President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday asked state governors to stop abdicating their constitutional responsibility of signing death warrant of criminals condemned to death by courts of competent jurisdiction.
The president made the call in a remark at the Fathers’ Day Sunday service organised by the Aso Villa Chapel.
The president said that the governors should realise that the job they were elected to do had both sweet and ugly parts.
He urged them to carry out all their responsibilities according to the dictates of the law.
“Discipline can be in various forms; in the states, it could be admonition. Magistrate can just admonish and allow an offender to go.
“From admonition to various forms of punishment, it could be imprisonment and the extreme is capital punishment.
“In the case of capital punishment, the state governors will sign.
“Even governors sometimes find it difficult to sign and I have been telling the governors that they must sign because that is the law.
“The work we are doing has very sweet part and very ugly part and we must perform both. No matter how painful it is, it is part of their responsibilities,” he said.
The president reminded fathers of the importance of instilling discipline in their children, adding that the love showered on the children must have limits so that it would not ruin their lives.
He encouraged parents to bring their children up properly, saying that fathers, in particular, must continually impress on their children the need to be upright in all they do.
Jonathan recalled the high level of discipline in the society while he was growing up and lamented that the virtue was waning with modernity.
“If we look through all the references that have to do with the father in the Bible, you will see that we expect a father to show love.
“The father is the breadwinner of the family, to take care of the mother and the children, to provide food for them and take care of their education.
“We expect fathers to be role models, while children will want to be like their fathers.
“I want to urge all of us who are fathers to discipline our children.
“No matter what you do, even if you show love and provide the need of the family, if you don’t discipline your children, it is not good,” he said.
The President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, Rev. Soja Bewarang, delivered the sermon entitled “Fathers’ Responsibility”.
Bewarang said if Nigeria must move forward, those working with the president must refrain from stealing public funds and be honest.
“If this country must survive, all men working under the president must practise honesty and they must not steal.
“The president cannot fight corruption when you are not supporting him.
“He may try, but he cannot be everywhere.
“You are his representatives, so you must practise honesty and you must not steal,” he said.
Bewarang asked Nigerians to pray for good fathers who would fear and trust God.
Present at the service were Delta Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and Akwa Ibom’s Gov. Godswill Akpabio and the president’s mother, Madam Eunice Jonathan.
The Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife; Chairman PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and members of the Federal Executive Council were also in attendance.
The Ambassador of Ireland in Nigeria, Mr Patrick Fhearghail, the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Uriel Palti, were also in attendance.
