The Nigerian Government has announced Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 27, 2022 as public holidays, to celebrate 2022’s Christmas.
January 2, 2023, according to the federal government, is a public holiday to celebrate the new year, 2023.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, has released a statement on behalf of the minister, confirming the development.
The statement said the federal government congratulates Christians and all citizens of Nigerian at home and abroad on the forthcoming Christmas and New Year events.
The minister has implored Christian faithfuls to learn from the doctrines of Jesus Christ in hope, faith and love, saying that, “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 said for the economy of a nation to boom, there must be peace and security.
He implored Christian faithfuls and citizens of the country to use the avenue of festivity to pray for the security architecture of the country.
“This calls for deliberate responsibility and discipline on the part of all.”
Aregbesola has also encouraged the citizens of the country to be conscious of their security, as he told them to give intelligence information to the nearest security agency via the N-Alert application making use of their Android and IOS, stressing that “when you see something do N-Alert, as this would elicit prompt response from security agents.”
The minister also sent message of advice to Christian faithfuls and citizens of the country at large to “Moderately celebrate the festival avoid the spread of fake news and be responsible. Take it as a point of duty you own your father land.”
The minister has encouraged Nigerians to be faithful and have belief that the coming year would be a greater year.
He has sent his best wishes to all Christian faithfuls as they celebrate Christmas and the entire Nigerians as they celebrate New Year.