I Can’t Thank God Enough At 83 , Says Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday ruminated over his life and concluded that he would remain grateful to God for all that He has used him to achieve in life.
With particular reference to his poor parental background, Obasanjo emphatically declared that he would henceforth, dedicate his life to doing things that will please God, make His face shine upon him as well as making the presence of the Almighty God go with him wherever he goes.
The former president spoke yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital during his remark at the annual thanksgiving service organized to honour him by the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Obasanjo, who will be marking his 83rd birthday by March 2020 said he is of the strong belief that thanking God and giving testimony of His goodness over his life remain the tasks for him that must go together hand – in – hand.
Speaking at the event which held at Chapel of Christ The Glorious King Church, located within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), the former president noted that greater number of those with whom he administered the affairs of the country both as military head of states and as the elected civilian president were all dead.
Reading copiously, a Biblical passage from the book of 1st Chronicles, chapter 16 verse 8, Obasanjo said he has nothing than to “give thanks to the Lord, call on Him name, make known among the nations what He has done.
“This is a very, very unique occasion, and I have everybody here present to thank God for it, but particularly the President of Ogun Chapter of CAN and the committee that organised this”.
“I believe that thanking God and giving testimony must go together, thanking God and giving testimony of what God has done for you, for me must go together but some people get it wrong, they say giving testimony is boasting but here, it says “let the nations know, let the world know what God has done for you”, that is not boasting, that is praising God.
“Any time that we get together to thank God, it is worth it, it is what we should do and it is a good thing to give thanks to God. It is a good thing and anybody who doesn’t want to do a good thing, it is up to him and his God.
“Me, I want to do a good thing. I want to do what will please God, I want to do things that will make God shine His face upon me, I want to do things that will make God presence go with me wherever I go.
“Those of you who know where I was born, how many of you know Ibogun-Olaogun? The village where I was born is so small that no matter how large you make the map of Nigeria, Ibogun-Olaogun will never appear.
“Yet, somebody born in that village of pure illiterate parents will have the opportunity that I have now, to reach the stage that I have reached, to be used to achieve whatever I have been used to achieve, I cannot thank God enough.
“I always say this, whatever I have achieved, whatever I have done, I thank God because it is not me alone, there are those who have worked with me, some of them are dead, some of them are still alive and without them, I will not have been able to achieve much. I thank God for their lives and may the souls of those who have died rest in perfect peace.
“On occasion like this, let us just thank God and keep thanking God”.
