By Uche Amunike
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party during the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi celebrated his Easter Sunday with inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service Medium Security Custodial Centre, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
After the Holy Mass, which was celebrated by the Archbishop of Onitsha diocese, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, Mr Peter Obi, spread a message of hope to the inmates. While addressing them during the celebration, he urged them to be hopeful and not feel isolated or depressed, but rather, try to see the face of God, because, ‘everybody is in prison in
Nigeria.’
From the day’s reading, Former governor Peter Obi told them that Mary Magdalene, who was the first person to discover the resurrected Christ, used to be known as an unholy person. Today, however, she is a reformed person and was the one blessed with the privilege to discover the risen Christ, even before the apostles did.
While addressing newsmen shortly after Mass, the former Anambra State governor stated: ‘My message for the inmates is for them not to despair, there is life after the prison. What that means is that being in prison is not the end of life as they could get corrected and enjoy salvation even before the so-called free people.’
‘At the moment, everybody is in prison in Nigeria and seeking the face of God for freedom and redemption. Our politicians need to start listening to the people.’
He made it clear that the people ruling the country did not have a full grasp of the problems bedeviling the country, which is why they find it difficult to proffer solutions to them. Hear him: ‘The problem of Nigeria is very simple but Nigeria is being ruled by people who don’t understand the problem. It is like a vehicle being driven by those who have reached their destination.’
‘We need people who understand the problem and that is where the solution will start. Governance is about listening to the people and knowing what is happening. I always tell my colleagues who are politicians, ‘Go around and listen to the people’. The solution is very simple, it is applying resources to where it is needed.’
‘We need to start pulling people out of poverty and unless we do that, the problem will continue. There are lots of cultivational lands across the country and unless we need to start engaging the youths positively through agricultural support, and unless we do that, the problem will continue to linger.’
One of the highlights of Mr. Peter Obi’s Easter celebration with the inmates, was a dance session where he discovered a little child, Musochukwu Ejiofor. The child’s mother is an inmate who was undergoing a prison term because of a business deal of N250,000 that went wrong.
The Archbishop entertains prison inmates annually during the Easter celebration. This year, he celebrated the Easter Mass with twelve other priests inside the correctional center and his message was that if Mary Magdalene could change to become one of the early beneficiaries of Christ’s resurrection, then it was very possible for the inmates to turn around to be great in the society and before God.
Mr Peter Obi, after the Mass, ended up donating food items and money to the inmates.
