DELTA State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has charged Nigerians to desist from engaging in rumour mongering, gossips and other negative tendencies which hamper infrastructure development.
The Governor who made the call yesterday during the annual Feast of Ascension celebration of the Catholic Church of the Ascension, Asaba decried situations when some persons engages in rumour mongering, and other negative attitudes in a bid to stop government’s developmental projects aimed at empowering the people positively.
In his words, “While some people are building, there are others who try to pull back the hands of the clock, and there are so many ways of pulling back the hands of the clock,” the Governor said, adding, “there are so many ways of pulling back the hands of the clock, by gossiping, rumour mongering and other negative ways.”
Dr Uduaghan who was accompanied by his wife, Roli Nere Uduaghan, the Head of Service, Mr Okey Ofili, members of the State Executive Council, among others to the church service, emphasised that Nigerians should not “be identified as rumour mongers that tell all sorts of stories to pull back the hands of development in the country. You should make your own contributions to the development of the society,”
The Governor reiterated his administration’s policy of speedy and even infrastructural development of the state, adding that “Asaba is being transformed to be a well-developed state capital”. He said that the new layout in Asaba would be well planned and laid out and the tarring of some of the roads would soon be awarded
“We are working to ensure that we have a well-developed state capital,” the Governor said, reiterating, “we may not be able to tar all the roads in this new layout but, we must begin from somewhere, we must ensure that Asaba is made a befitting capital city.”
Dr Uduaghan commended the Catholic Church for celebrating the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven, observing that most countries of the world declared public holiday because of the festival, adding that the significance of the feast is very important for Christians.
Earlier the Chief Celebrant at the Service, Revd. Fr. Peter Mobuogwu said the significance of the festival was that nothing is impossible before God, reiterating that Jesus Christ beat the law of gravity by ascending into heaven.
Quoting Biblical passage, Fr. Mobuogwu said, as the disciples “were looking on, he (Jesus Christ) was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
He emphasised that with the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, his presence among Christians is no longer limited by space or time, adding that people should not waver in their faith in God.