Victor Ezeja
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, and Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese Most Rev Valerian Maduka Okeke, spent part of their Easter celebration with inmates at the Onitsha Correctional Centre.
The event featured celebration of Holy Mass with the inmates by Archbishop Okeke, who has made it an annual ritual visiting the centre to demonstrate the sacrificial love of Christ to the inmates.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelCommenting on the visit, Obi in a post on his X handle, said that while interacting with the inmates, he reminded them that everyone is a prisoner in Nigeria given the challenges they face and therefore “need to seek mercy and help from God.
“With all the challenges our nation is facing on every front, every Nigerian needs to pray for, and above all, work for their freedom by doing what is right and contributing to our national development,” Obi told the inmates.
He urged the inmates who were uplifted by the homily message of the Archbishop and their presence “not to be dispirited by their present condition, but to leverage their stay in the correctional center to better their lives, develop their skills, and commit to doing what is right so that they can make meaningful contributions to society at the end.”
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Obi thanked Archbishop Okeke for his immense contributions “to the well-being of humanity particularly his huge contribution to the inmates, especially the Skill Centre he set up for them, by which they can develop their skills and become more productive.
The former Anambra State governor also thanked the Controller of Prisons, Anambra Command, and the Deputy Controller of Corrections in charge of Onitsha Prisons, Sunday Igwe, and all their teams for their good work in keeping the inmates safe.
“It is my earnest prayer that God will set us all free from our various challenges as we journey toward the New Nigeria,” Obi prayed.
Earlier in his Easter message, Obi called on all Christians to, in the spirit of the season, continue to pray for God’s intervention in the country’s challenges, “so that even as we labour, as humans, for the sake of our nation, God will crown our efforts with success, and make the New Nigeria even more possible, beyond our human efforts. I wish everyone a very Happy Easter celebration.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
