Dr Daniel Okoh, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, urged the Federal Government and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities to end the seven-month strike on Sunday.
Okoh made the appeal during his address at the National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja on the occasion of Nigeria’s 62nd Independence Day.
“I call on the Federal Government to do all that is necessary so that most of these youths will go back to the universities and engage with their studies.
“As it is often said that ‘idle minds are the devil’s workshop, idle lips are his mouthpiece,’” he said.
Describing next year’s elections as one of Nigeria’s greatest tests, Okoh urged citizens of voting age to obtain their Permanent Voter’s Card.
He argued that politicians who hand out inducements to the electorate do not care for the nation or her people as they “disappear” afterwards.
“The year 2023 is the year of our test as a nation. Rather than taking up arms to kill one another and terrifying innocent and ordinary Nigerians, adults in this nation should take up our voter’s cards and go to the polls,” he added.
He urged all Nigerians to give the Independent National Electoral Commission all the support to enable it to succeed in its assignment.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said despite Nigeria’s troubled past and present, its future holds more peace and glory.
“The future of Nigeria will be far more glorious, more peaceful than her past, and so it shall be for you too. Every year will be happier for you, more glorious, more prosperous and more peaceful, in Jesus’ name,” Osinbajo said in his address at the service.
He added, “We stand at the gates of a new nation and we see its lights shining bright. The nation of God’s promises, a nation of opportunities, of equity and justice, a secure and prosperous nation, a nation of laws and righteousness.
“Even if what we see today seems bleak, and dark, we are confident that God who owns the heavens and the earth will fulfil His promises concerning this nation.”