As Christians across the world mark Good Friday and Easter celebrations, they have been urged to imbibe the virtues of perseverance, tolerance, steadfastness, love exhibited by Jesus Christ to restore stability,  peaceful co-existence and accelerated development of Nigeria.

The Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly Barrister Razak Atunwa gave the piece of advice in his message to Christians on the occasion of Easter Day celebration.

Atunwa, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Alhaji Abdulrahman Sanni, which was made available to journalists in Ilorin, on Thursday, urged Nigerians not to use the occasion for mere merry making but for sober reflection on issues aggravating political and social upheaval, economic stagnation, suspicion, and civil unrest among the diverse ethnic and religious groups that had been co existing in the country more than a century ago.

The speaker, while urging the  clergy to always preach love and tolerance of one another, noted that no nation could attain progress without  love, trust, tolerance and understanding of each other's differences.

He said that, as Nigeria  was moving towards another round of general election, politicians, he counselled, must see power and life as transient and allow love of the nation to transcend personal considerations.

Atunwa cautioned politicians against utterances and actions capable of igniting crisis, saying that those who laid their lives in restoring the nation on the path of democracy must not die in vain.

He praised Christians in Kwara State for co habiting  peacefully with their Muslim counterparts and called for sustenance of such warm relationship between the adherents of the two religions.

The speaker assured that the assembly, under his leadership, would continue to provide a platform for  maintaining religious harmony and accelerated development of the state.