The federal government on has declared Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 27, 2022 as public holidays for the Christmas celebration.

The government also declared Monday, January 2, 2023 as public holiday for the New Year celebration.

Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in a statement signed by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, felicitated with Christians and all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora on this year's celebrations.

Ogbeni Aregbesola enjoined Christians to emulate the doctrines of Jesus Christ in faith, hope and love.

"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.

He emphasised that peace and security are two critical conditions for economic development and prosperity and urged Christians and Nigerians to make the best use of this festive period to pray for the total eradication of insecurity bedeviling the country.

Aregbesola charged Nigerians not to be lured into insensitive crisis by criminally minded elements that want to create anarchy in the country, saying, "This calls for deliberate responsibility and discipline on the part of all."

The minister urged Nigerians to be security conscious and report any suspicious persons or activities to the nearest security agency through the N-Alert application on Android and IOS, adding; "When you see something do N-Alert, as this would elicit prompt response from security agents."

He said this yuletide calls for spartan discipline in order to protect lives and properties of everyone in our community and the nation as a whole.