* Faults southern, northern govs’ separate meetings
Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday declared that he never believed in the use of temporary political office to punish people.
Delivering an address in Benin City, Edo State capital, at the 50th birthday celebration of President of the Rock of Ages Christian Assembly, Apostle Charles Osazuwa, the former president stressed that people would always be remembered for the legacies they left behind.
“My belief, particularly when I joined politics is not to use a temporary privilege, a temporary position God has given to me to punish people,’’ he said.
“Some of the things I did while in office to which people still make reference was based on the conviction not to use my position to cause the death of anybody.
“Any position I have occupied by divine providence should not be used to create hardship for other people,” he said.
“Just at 50 years, you have impacted significantly on many lives,’’ he told the cleric.
He backed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, noting that the platform remains the best to discuss issues affecting the country.
He said the argument between the Southern Governors’ Forum and the Northern Governors’ Forum following the former’s inaugural meeting held in Asaba last Tuesday, was uncalled for.
He said, “The governors should continue to meet; I don’t love a situation where the Northern governors will meet, then the Southern governors will cry foul and vice versa. This will not help our country.
“The governors through the governors’ forum should meet, they are the people who run this country, the President is just one person in Abuja.”
In his address, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki lauded Apostle Osazuwa for using the word of God to address current realities and challenges facing the country.
“What singles you (Apostle Osazuwa) out is your ability and capacity to use and link the challenges we are having today as a country with the scriptures and to use same to give hope to the people particularly the youths.
“Apostle Osazuwa understands the role of God and the role of the scripture in our modern society; nobody, in my view has been able to explain things the way he does.
“Government helps to organise us and when government fails to help us to express ourselves, it’s the church and men of God like you that help us to pick up the piece; government will always be grateful to people like you,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, commended the Apostle Osazuwa for using the church to impact the lives of the people.
Okowa said the Church was in a position to proffer solutions to challenges facing the nation and urged its ministers to continue to speak truth to power.
