TODAY is Good Friday. It is the day when Christians the world over commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, following a gruesome passion. The day would ordinarily have been one for great mourning and lamentation, or a day never to recall, because of the grave injustice that was done to the innocent son of God on Mount Calvary. For Christian believers however, the day is ironically observed as Good Friday, a day of celebration, because the terrible event of that day has become the source of life and salvation for generations. It is Good Friday for followers of Jesus Christ because they are able to look beyond the dark and gloomy events of that Friday to anticipate and eventually embrace the light and joy of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.Good Friday is a day not only to recall the sacrificial love that Jesus showed by accepting to go through a humiliating death on the cross in atonement for sin, and for the salvation of men and women who would otherwise have been doomed for death and damnation, it is also a day to highlight and celebrate the new civilisation of love, which Jesus established by means of His passion, death and resurrection. Jesus' way of sacrificial love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and non-violence, ran against the grain of the prevalent culture of hatred, vengeance, violence and death. His meek and humble disposition was too much of a challenge to the status-quo of power and prestige, domination and control. His life stood in stark contradiction to the prevailing order. No wonder he had to be brutally eliminated by the powerful forces of the day. But it was all in fulfillment of the oracle of the ancient prophets, regarding the Suffering Servant of God, who would be despised and rejected, bruised and battered for the sins of His people. Now, over two thousand years since the event of Calvary, Jesus' legacy of leadership by way of humility, service and sacrificial love, has endured and has continued to challenge all categories of leaders in the world.Today's celebration of Good Friday is, for many of us in present day Nigeria at once a commemoration and a lamentation. As our Christian population reflects on the life and times of Jesus and the details of His grueling passion and crucifixion, this day is approached with a fair dose of trepidation, indignation, skepticism. Trepidation because Nigeria has become a cozy haven for the merchants and agents of terrorism, and security has become an on-running nightmare, since hardly a week passes by without the heart-rending reports of bomb explosions at security posts and other institutions, including churches. All claims to the contrary notwithstanding, our government is proving to be ill-equipped and incapable of containing the menace. Yes, despite repeated assurances, our security outfits appear impotent and lost in dealing decisively with a deadly amorphous target that Boko Haram has emerged to be.Whilst Nigeria is held hostage by this obvious security threat, Nigerians are overwhelmed by a sense of indignation, as our social superstructure is daily inundated with soul-destroying disclosures of sleaze and corruption of monumental proportions. Though our sensibilities have become blunted by other dimensions of grand corruption that have overrun this country, the recent Pensions Fund scam simply boggles the mind. Not to mention the indiscretions behind the House Committee and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) squabble. Whilst these scandals take centre stage for now, can Nigerians take the liberty to imagine what could be going on elsewhere in the national environment' And are these not the signs and symptoms of a nation that is losing its soul'These happenings inevitably breed a nation of skeptics when those who claim to lead are caught up in the very acts that diminish national integrity. When leaders coast along merrily in the cesspool of kleptomania and mismanagement, we wonder what lies in store for national survival. Where our governance profile is all about assuaging self-serving agendas and how to hold on tightly to power, where then lay the prospects for redemption and salvation that the sacrificial death of Christ exemplifies' Where is the conscience of our leaders, and why has the common good taken leave of them' Will those who haemorrhage this country and those who aid and abet them spare a thought for posterity' Can they project a life for their progeny founded on fraud and graft'Good Friday reflections invite us to take a cue from the sacrificial leadership offered by Jesus Christ ' a leadership that is selfless, compassionate, just and loving. It is not only important but imperative that our elected and appointed leaders at all levels of society ' political, corporate, traditional and religious ' break out of their comfort zones and embrace the elements of good service delivery. For it is doubtful that a collapse of society envisaged in the rot of the moment will leave them unscathed. It is doubtful that they alone and their own will survive the throes of extermination, should the system go under.Jesus has given the supreme example of sacrificial leadership that makes for good governance and ultimately national security, peace and prosperity. He laid down his life to teach the world humility, fortitude, suffering, sacrifice, justice and true love, as the way to authentic peace ' the peace that endures. As Christians mark Good Friday today, may all Nigerians take these truths to heart so that it shall be well with our country. On this note The Guardian wishes our numerous readers a peaceful and reflective Good Friday!
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