The Federal Government today, declared Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, 27, 2022, as public holidays to mark this year’s Christmas and Boxing Day while Monday, January 2, 2023, has been declared a holiday to mark New Year’s Day celebration.

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior, made the announcement in a statement issued by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Shuaib Belgore.

The Minister urged Christians and Nigerians to make the best use of this festive period to pray for the total eradication of insecurity troubling the country.

“We must imbibe the life of Jesus Christ in His practice and teachings on humility, service, compassion, patience, peace and righteousness, that His birth signifies. This will be the best way to portray Christ and celebrate his birth,” he noted.

“Peace and security are two critical conditions for economic development and prosperity. We urge Christians and Nigerians to make the best use of this festive period to pray for the total eradication of insecurity bedeviling our dear nation.

“We strongly charge Nigerians not to be lured into insensitive crisis by criminally minded elements that wants to create anarchy in the country.”

The Minister also urged Nigerians to be security conscious, asking them to report any suspicious persons or activities to the nearest security agency through the N-Alert application on Android and IOS.

Aregbesola also assured that the government had put in place effective measures for the security of lives and property and expects Nigerians to support the efforts of security agencies by providing useful information that will assist them in the performance of their duties.

He admonishes all citizens to remain focused and expresses confidence that the year 2023 would be a better year for us all.

Source -: the Punch