Armstrong Allahmagani, Bauchi
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has congratulated Christians on the occasion of the 2024 Christmas celebration while expressing worry over the hardship Nigerians are currently facing.
In his goodwill message made available to journalists by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Muhktar Gidado, he called on Christians to imbibe the virtues of peace, honesty and love for others as well as the fear of God as exhibited by Jesus Christ while he was on earth.
He said: "The annual celebration of Christmas, as we all know, is in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ who paid the supreme price in order to save the lives of his disciples and followers. It is with great pleasure that I, on behalf of myself, the government and the entire people of Bauchi State, extend my warm and sincere message of goodwill to all Christians on the occasion of this year’s Christmas Celebration.
"Jesus Christ had, throughout his lifetime, preached peace, honesty, love for one another and above all the fear of God. It is these virtues that people irrespective of their religious belief are enjoined to imbibe and put into practice.
"While we celebrate the event with meditation and happiness, we should also reflect seriously on our routine and spiritual deeds in the last one year and pray to God for better and prosperous years ahead."
The Governor reiterated his call for mutual respect and peaceful co-existence among citizens and urged them to learn to live with one another harmoniously irrespective of their political, cultural and religious differences.
"We should also imbibe the spirit of love and forgiveness. The Christmas period should also be used to strengthen existing friendships and establish new ones. To this end, I call on Christians in particular to exchange visits among themselves and adherents of other faiths during the Christmas period," he stated.
On the current economic situation in the country, Governor Mohammed said: "Government is not unmindful of the current economic hardship being experienced by the generality of the people of our country.
"Indeed, we are worried that the very people who gave us the mandate to formulate and implement policies for the betterment of their socio-economic well being are being subjected to untold hardship.
"As a subnational government, we are doing everything possible to ameliorate the hardship and make life meaningful to you all. To this end, the State Government has been providing palliative items to bring succor to the people.
"We will not relent in this regard. I call on you all to continue to exercise patience, while we work towards ending the hardship.
"As you all know, the primary responsibility of any Government is to ensure security of lives and property of its citizens. To this end, the State Government is collaborating with security agencies to address real and perceived threats to security of lives and property of the citizenry.
"Pursuant to this, the Government is providing logistics and other support to the security Agencies for effective and efficient operation."
According to him, the provision of infrastructural facilities and social amenities by his administration is aimed at stabilizing and strengthening the economic status of the State to become one of the States that has a strong economic base in the country.
"We shall therefore continue to work relentlessly towards the realization of this noble objective. I wish to appreciate your support to my Government since its inception.
"On our part, we are striving as much as possible to reciprocate the gesture by embarking on policies and programmes that have direct bearing on the lives of the people. With your continued support and understanding, all nooks and crannies of the State would benefit from our developmental programmes," the Governor assured.
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