I can never use political office to punish people – Goodluck Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan said in Benin on Sunday that he never believed in the use of temporary political office to punish people.

“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. He was delivering an address at the 50th birthday celebration of Apostle Charles Osazuwa, President of the Rock of Ages Christian Assembly when he made the submission.

Jonathan stressed that people would always be remembered for the legacies they left behind. “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.

In his address, Edo’s Gov. 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; the government will always be grateful to people like you,’’ he said.

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, who was also in attendance, commended the Apostle Osazuwa for using the church to impact the lives of the people. Okowa said that 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. Earlier, Apostle Osazuwa enjoined politicians to make life easier for the masses. “King David used his position to make things easier for the children of Israel. I encourage our governors and all politicians not to use their positions to cause pain in the lives of the people,’’ he said.