President Bola Tinubu on Thursday described the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo as symbol of unity, who fosters sense of belonging, peace, progress and development among the people of Egbaland.
Tinubu, who said this at at the 80th birthday of Oba Gbadebo, in Abeokuta, said, the monarch has been a shining example of leadership that "we crave for in the country"
Represented by the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, the President in his congratulatory message to Oba Gbadebo, said 80th celebration was not just to mark passage of time, but to celebrate the reign of a first class ruler that has been marked by great wisdom and unwavering commitment to pursue the socio-economic development and prosperity of the people of Egbaland and Nigeria in general.
The President said "your reign has been so worthwhile, it has shown you as a monarch that is compassionate and devoted to justice, equity and fairness. Your love for your people in Egbaland and the country as a whole is legendary. You have shown deep connections to cultural heritage of Egba land".
"You have been a symbol of unity fostering sense of belonging, peace, progress and development among your people. You have certainly been a shining example of leadership that we crave for in the country and our prayers is that you will celebrate many more years to come in sound health while inspiring all of us to keep serving the country diligently".
Speaking in his capacity as the Governor of the state, Abiodun described the royal father as a leader par excellence, whose support has really helped his administration to record his modest achievements in the last four years.
Gov Abiodun specifically lauded Oba Gbadebo for being so bold and courageous to openly support his second term ambition, saying that the traditional ruler has really proved to be so loving and quite dependable ally when it comes to working in the best interest of the development and moving the state forward.
In his sermon at the birthday thanksgiving held at Cathedral of St. Peter, Ake, Abeokuta, the Primate, Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Archbishop Henry Ndukuba challenged Nigeria leaders to embrace righteousness, adding that they should let the fear of God and selfless love to the people be their guiding principles
Ndukuba decried the general level of corrupt practices in the country, saying that Nigerians both the leaders and the led now tell lies at will and change N500 to N500m without battling an eyelid insisting that now is the time to turn a new leaf if the country must achieve the dream of being great.
Ndukuba, who was represented by the retired Primate of Anglican Church, Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter Jasper Akinola emphasized that as good as it was to appreciate God for his bounteous mercy, it must be done in holiness and righteousness, for it to be acceptable before God.
He said "unfortunately, we now tell lies with all reckless abandon in Nigeria, telling lies is now in our DNA, it is alarming the way we toy with corruption, people now don't think it twice to change N500 to N500m, our politicians and leaders must change, even this evil is among those who sell food stuff in the market, they have adjusted what they use in measuring what they are selling, when you go to buy fuel too, you found out that the metre has been tampered with, this evil is so much.
"And we are all behaving as if God is not seeing us. No, He is definitely seeing us and as we all know that reward and punishment await whatever we do here on earth.
"Some politicians will carry this money and go and build houses in Dubai and all over, but what becomes of these houses, they eventually become homes to cobwebs. We just have to change to move this country forward".
Congratulating Oba Gbadebo for attaining the 80 years of age, Revd Chukwudum described the royal father as an exemplary leader whose commitment to providing qualitative leadership for the people of Egbaland and Ogun State as a whole is worthy of emulation.
He said at 80 years, the top priority of Oba Gbadebo should be to move closer to God, saying that by doing this, the royal father would bequeath to the coming generations the honour of being a beacon of light, who served humanity diligently and made lot of positive difference in the life of the people.
Dignitaries at the Church service included the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former governors of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun State Deputy Governor, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele, Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Senator Adeola Olamilekan representing Ogun West, the Nigerian Ambassador to United Kingdom, Alhaji Sarafa Tunji Ishola as well as Mr Tunde Lemo, former CBN Deputy Governor.
No comments:
Post a Comment