From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State on Sunday maintained his stand of allowing God to divinely pick his successor next year.
Okowa said he was not willing to lord himself on the people but to allow the will of God to provide Deltans with a worthy choice as governor.
Okowa spoke in Sapele during the 70th birth anniversary thanksgiving service of Chief Oritsetimeyin Adams.
According to him, the choice of a successor is not by wish of man but by the will of God.
“I thank the Church and our leaders for their consistent prayers for our dear state because it is not about us, men, but about what God wants.
“So, pray that whoever God wants will be governor, and may that person He wants emerge as governor for the good of Deltans.
“May God’s will be done in Delta State and may it be well with us in Nigeria,” he said.
The governor congratulated the celebrant for attaining the Biblical three scores and 10 and urged him to rededicate his life to the service of God and humanity.
“God is the source of life and therefore we must return all thanks to Him and that is what you have done today.
“I knew Chief Adams way back in 1991 when we were council chairmen together. He was in the NRC and I was in the SDP and we became friends since then.
“I thank God that today also he continued to remember the things that God had enabled him to do.
“He is now one of our elder statesmen not because of his age but because of his contributions to the development of our state.
“The surgery you underwent is over and your health is healed not because of the successful surgery but because Jesus said you should be healed,” he stated.
Earlier in his sermon, Bishop of Oleh Diocese (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev’d John Aruakpor, congratulated Adams for using his positions to attract development to his people.
The bishop remarked that every celebration was a day to look back and give thanks to God for His grace upon our lives, adding that the grace of God had helped the celebrant all through his life.
Speaking on the theme “The value of man’s life“, he said that a man’s worth did not consist in the abundance of his possessions but by the value of service he rendered to others.
He said God “does not measure man’s worth by the number of years lived but by how much impact we make on the lives of others.
“When the Lord places man in a position of authority, it is not for the person in particular but to better the lots of others.
“If you want to have value in the sight of God, put God first, obey His ways and He will not disappoint you,” the cleric said.
The celebrant, Chief Adams, said he was not thanking God because he was 70 but because of His blessings upon his life and family.
“I am not just thanking God because I am 70, but because of what God did for me last year.
“Last year, I was diagnosed with prostrate cancer which was supposed to be a death sentence but the Lord healed me after an operation in a United States hospital.
“I must thank God for our dear Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and my amiable king, His Majesty, Atuwatse III, for their support towards the surgery,” he said.