From Ndubuisi Orji, Fred Ezeh, Abuja, Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri and Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, charged Nigerians to approach the new year with renewed zeal despite the challenges of 2020.
The party in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, commended Nigerians for their resilience and unshaken resolve to stand by one another in the face of alleged failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.
The opposition party lamented that the Federal Government abandoned citizens to a life of misery at the mercy of looters, bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals.
“Like an act in a tragedy series, Nigerians watched hopelessly, as a people without a leader, while the President of Chad, Idris Derby, personally led his troops into Nigerian soil to liberate communities and Nigerians soldiers held captive by terrorists.
“On the economy front, our compatriots exhibited resilience and persevered in the face of worst economic strangulation occasioned by unbridled looting by the APC leaders and officials of the Buhari administration resulting in the wrecking of our naira, closure of millions of businesses, frightening unemployment rate, agonizing poverty and infrastructural collapse.
“The attendant pressure on families resulted in a surge in suicide cases, slavery missions, divorces and buckled social life. There is hardly a family in Nigeria, under Buhari’s watch, which does not bear the deep gash of security or economic tragedy brought by the APC,” Ologbondiyan said.
However, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has reassured Nigerians that the Mercy of God, which preserved them in 2020, would keep them through 2021.
CAN President, Dr. Samson Ayokunle Olasupo, in his new year message, said the predictions of the developed world as regards the effect of COVID-19 pandemic in Africa could not come to fruition because of the Mercy of God.
He, thus, pleaded with Nigerians to observe all COVID-19 protocols to help contain community transmission of the disease.
“The Mercy of God made the difference in Africa, especially Nigeria where health experts predicted that 30 million people would die.
“I am not saying that the advanced nations of the world do not believe in God, but that our own lack of human strength, lack of health infrastructure (though not our pride), have made us to trust in God more than human science and technology.”
He advised Nigerians to dwell in the ‘Secret Place of the Most High’ in order to overcome all challenges ahead.