Jonathan will rise again, Says cleric
Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Seriake Dickson, on Thursday stated that his primary mission as leader of the state was to move it from its ‘dark and evil past” to a glorious one.
He noted that having fought “so many battles” and emerging triumphant in all, it was necessary to work closely with God and the people to ensure that the state was weaned from its unenviable past.
Dickson spoke during an event to mark the state’s fifth Annual Thanksgiving Day at the Ecumenical Centre in Igbogene, Yenagoa.
He explained that being the first bill he sent to the state House of Assembly when he became governor underscored the importance of the annual thanksgiving ceremony.
According to him, the event was to give everybody an opportunity to thank and praise God according to their faith. “Its a sacred day of thanksgiving. Its not just a day for officialdom”, he said.
The governor added, “When we came on board five years ago, knowing all the battles that we fought, we have never lost any battle along this way. It’s our prayer that moving forward, we always remain victorious.
“I look at life and see how God raised me as a police constable, working through different people at different times through thick and thin, I emerged governor of this state.
“Because of some of the issues that preceded my emergence after I had gone to court to compel INEC to put back my name, I discovered I had to thank God.
“God has been merciful. Seeing the need to reposition our state rightly before God, we thought there was need to move the state away consciously from all that was dark and evil. That was why the first bill I sent was the law giving rise to this ceremony”.
He called on the people of the state to jettison all divisive tendencies and join forces with his administration to build the state, irrespective of their political differences.
In his sermon, the guest preacher, Rev. Uma Ukpai, noted that Bayelsa remained a very dear state in God’s heart, stating that that underscored the choice of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by God to rule Nigeria for the period he did.
