2023: I’m Still Waiting on God for Successor, Says Okowa

Omon-Julius Onabu

Contrary to widespread speculation that he had anointed a possible successor, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday reiterated his earlier assertion that he is still waiting on God to determine who would take over from him on May 29, 2023.
Okowa said that usurping the place of God Almighty to personally choose his successor would amount to “lording it over the people,” adding that he remained focused on delivering good governance up to the finish line on May 29, 2023.
Okowa, who spoke yesterday at the 70th birthday anniversary thanksgiving service of Mr. Oritsetimeyin Adams, at Cathedral Church of St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Sapele, urged church leaders and the people to continue to pray that God would give the state a good person as his successor.
He said: “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.”
While congratulating the celebrant for attaining the biblical three scores and 10, he urged Chief Adams 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 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,” the governor said.
The Bishop of Oleh Diocese (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev’d John Aruakpor, had congratulated Adams for using his positions to attract development to his people.
Aruakpor 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,” the bishop 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 that 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,” he said. “If you want to have value in the sight of God, then put God first; obey His ways and He will not disappoint you.”
The celebrant, Adams, said he was not thanking God because he was 70 but because of His blessings upon his life and family.
He said: “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 prostate 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.”