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| President Goodluck Jonathan |
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said over 50 per cent of politicians, are not supposed to be in politics.
He said most of them opted to become politicians because they lacked any other thing they could lay their hands upon to do.
Jonathan made the observation in a short message he delivered during the first Sunday service of the year, held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The service also featured a thanksgiving by the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission for the success of the 2013 pilgrimage to Israel, which the President participated in.
Jonathan made the observation just as the Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, urged him not to give up but continue to persevere until he leads the nation to the promised land.
The President likened politics to professions, such as nursing and teaching, which should ordinarily not accommodate wicked people. However, he regretted that those under such categories had found their ways into the nation’s politics.
He said, “Politics is just like some kinds of trade. More than 50 per cent of us, who are into politics, are not supposed to be politicians.
“For example, in the professions of nursing and teaching, people with wicked hearts and unforgiving spirits are not the kind of people who should be nurses or teachers, but we find them there.
“So, most of us who are in politics are not supposed to be there, but because we have no other thing to do.”
While faulting an earlier statement made by his Chaplain, Venerable Obioma Onwuzurumba, during the Bible Study that politicians don’t forgive, Jonathan described any unforgiving politician as an impostor.
He said the Bible even confirmed it that politicians should forgive one another because there were no permanent friends or enemies in politics but permanent interest.
“The chaplain accused us politicians that we do not forgive, or that some politicians don’t forgive. Apparently, the Bible said this, that politicians are the people who forgive.
“Politicians, I would not say much, are those who forgive because in politics whether local politics or national, the driving force is that you don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies but permanent interest.
“If somebody is your enemy today and there is a change of interest and he becomes your friend; first of all you have to forgive. Otherwise, you cannot have a friend that you cannot work with,” the President said.
Earlier in his sermon, titled, “Forget not all His benefits,” the Anglican primate had likened Nigeria to an individual on a pilgrimage to a particular destination.
He said when the journey becomes tough, Jonathan, as the leader of the pilgrimage, should not give up but remain focused.
He also listed perseverance, patience, self-discipline and unity as some of the factors needed to ensure that the country arrives its promised land.
He said, “Life is a pilgrimage. Every individual is on a pilgrimage. Even Nigeria is on pilgrimage to an appointed destination in Africa and the world. God cannot make a mistake of creating a large number of people and place them in a place called Nigeria without a purpose. There is a purpose for Nigeria.
“Qualities that will make Nigeria succeed in its pilgrimage include patience. Nigerians sometimes can be impatient. The task of nation building calls for patience.
Okoh lauded Jonathan for identifying with what he called the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, by signing the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2013 into law despite protests from outside the country.
He described the signing of the Bill into law as the hallmark of democracy.
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