There is no doubt that our country, Nigeria, is in need of healing, spiritually, socially, politically and morally. The nation as a whole and most individuals have lost track of the path to truth and godliness, and have been toeing the path that leads to doom and destruction. We are like sheep without shepherd. Our people are hungry in the midst of much meat, and thirsty amid springs of clean water. Innocent people are being killed every day through ritual killings, Boko Haram bombings, Fulani herdsmen attacks, armed robberies and road accidents, owing to bad roads; and many more are roaming the streets aimlessly with no particular destination.
The economy of the nation is yet to find steady growth. There are agitations all over the nation, calling for change in the mode of governance. We recall the recent and heart wrenching kidnapping of innocent Catholic student doctors somewhere in Jos, Plateau State, who were on their way to attend a national conference organised by the Catholic Student Doctors in Nigeria, by yet to be identified gunmen. We hear the abductors are asking for N15 million for their release. We demand that the security agencies should act fast to secure the release of the students. These kinds of things happen only when the nation has lost its sense of direction and many of its people are aligning themselves with forces of evil. But I have good news for all my fellow countrymen.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. The prayers of God’s children in this last one year will not be in vain. Our daily recitation of the rosary and novenas to Mary and the saints are not efforts in futility. God is faithful and listens to the prayer of His children. He will surely restore the glory of this nation and bring to shame all those who have consistently worked to hold us in perpetual bondage. Our assurance that God will restore the glory of the nation requires that we also rededicate ourselves to living lives of righteousness, shunning sin and embracing the truth. The glory of this nation shall surely be restored.
• Most. Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos.
