It is resurrection morning for Christians in Nigeria and across the globe. For many Christians, it is a moment of sober reflection.
The week leading into the Easter celebration is regarded as the ‘Holy Week’ in Christendom and it is characterised by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on ‘Easter Sunday.’
For some Christians, it is a time to travel across cities for spiritual renaissance – from retreat to camp meetings and conferences, the list is endless.
However, these moments offer a great opportunity for the country to leverage in building the right mindset in these groups of worshipers.
Nigerian worshipers gather in their numbers seeking spiritual renewal and rebuilding, but beyond this is the call for national rebirth – driven largely by reorientation with the church at the driver’s seat.
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But why the church?
The church in Nigeria commands a large following that places it at the core of any purpose driven conversation and reorientation of any kind.
This is so because the church put together accounts for a significant number of Nigeria’s over 200 million populations.
As of 2024, Nigerian Christian population is put at 74.4 million, according to published data by Statista, which is considered a reasonable proportion of the country’s population.
That number, if leveraged appropriately, holds a significant influence on the country’s socio-political and socio-economic trajectory.
Furthermore, Christianity has spread across Nigeria with different denominations taking root in various regions. The Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, and the Pentecostal and Charismatic/Evangelical movements are some of the Christian denominations holding sway in Nigeria.
“So, the amen are very, very important, but that is not to say that they should not leverage this opportunity for national reorientation and nation building,” Lekan Otufodunrin, president, Journalists for Christ, said.
According to him, the churches have been contributing to nation building over the years because they understand the need to take their country seriously.
“I want to believe that they have been doing that all along, but those are operations to remind people that, yes, they are not of this world, but they are still in this world and they need to do the right things.
“They need to contribute to national development. They need to promote good virtues, which are consistent with Christian values and everything like that. So they can leverage it for this other thing, but we should not discount their main goal,” Otufodunrin said.
National reorientation
Otufodunrin said that while national reorientation and nation building is essential to the church and worshiper, however, their first principal goal is to build the spiritual level of their members. “Why the national reorientation and nation building are very, very important?
“We must understand, like you know, the main goal of the churches is for spiritual development. They are marking Easter, which is a very crucial
