The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, has called on Nigerians to make charity a way of life by showing more empathy for their fellow citizens.

Martins, in his Easter Message, called on Nigerians to make sacrifices for the Common Good and the welfare of fellow citizens in emulation of Jesus Christ who made the invaluable sacrifice of His life out of love for humanity.

“In this Easter season, we are once again reminded of the love that made our Lord Jesus Christ to take upon himself the sins of all mankind and was crucified so that we might have eternal life.

“Like Jesus, we too must be willing to make sacrifices for the Common Good and the growth of our nation.

“We must show more tolerance toward others and accommodate those with points of view that are different from ours so that we can all live together in peace and unity,” he said.

Archbishop Martins congratulated Christians for the successful completion of the Lenten season with the discipline of fasting, prayers and almsgiving.

He noted that most of the challenges facing the country are borne out of greed, selfishness and lack of religious tolerance.

“Nigeria would become a better place if both the leaders and followers learn to embrace love, shun selfishness and show more empathy for one another.

“Christ has shown us that love conquers all ills. I believe very strongly that when we learn to love and tolerate one another genuinely, notwithstanding our differences, we will grow stronger and better as a nation.

“Unfortunately, over the years we have allowed agents of disunity to continue to hype on our differences instead of the fact that we are all children of the same God who have been brought to live together by providence,” he said.

According to Archbishop Martins, love is the virtue that we all need to practice as Nigerians so that we can together fight against the numerous ills plaguing the land and move toward the path of lasting peace and prosperity.

The Prelate also congratulated the newly elected political office holders in the country, urging them to use the opportunity given to them to better the lots of Nigerians through rendering selfless and result-oriented service.

He said that insecurity and killings have become rampant and called on the security agencies to change their strategies for fighting insecurity, saying that their present strategies are not working.

“I call on all Nigerians to keep up prayers for the nation so that God can intervene in our situation,” he said.

NAN