The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, on Sunday, celebrated Easter with inmates at the Nigerian Correctional Service Medium Security Custodial Centre, Onitsha, Anambra State.
Speaking during the celebration after the Sunday mass, Obi urged the inmates not to feel isolated and despaired because “everybody is in prison in Nigeria” and to seek the face of God for freedom and redemption.
The mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke.
The Archbishop uses the Easter occasion to fete prison inmates annually.
Speaking from the reading of the day, Obi told the inmates, that from the day’s reading, Mary Magdalene, who was the first to discover the resurrected Christ was once unholy, but today, she is reformed and privileged to discover the rising Christ even before the apostles.
While speaking to journalists after the mass, Obi said, “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.”
According to Obi, the people ruling the country don’t understand the problems, hence, the difficulty in finding solutions.
He said, “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.”
The Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, His Grace Valerie Okeke, who celebrated the Easter mass with about 12 other priests inside the Correctional Centre, said, “If Mary Magdalene could transform to be among the early beneficiaries of the Christ resurrection, even them in the correctional centre will turn around to be great in the society and before God.”
The highlight of the Easter celebration with the inmates was a dance session, during which Obi discovered a little child, Musochukwu Ejiofor, whose mother is serving a prison term over a N250,000 business deal that went wrong.
The former governor announced the donation of money and food items.
