From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that no nation progresses without love and unity.
Speaking at the funeral mass of late Lydia Yilwatda, mother of the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, held at Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) Headquarters Church Jos, Plateau State yesterday, Tinubu said that nobody determines what God has ordained.
His words: “God’s ordained action and His promises are what matter. I inherited Islam from my family. I didn’t change. But my wife is a pastor. She prays for me. No conflict. And I never teach it at any single time to convince her or convert her.
“I believe in the freedom of religion. We are praying to the same God. We are answerable to the same Almighty God. We will give account to Him for our deeds and character. Our love to fellow human beings matters more than the method and the faith of our people.”
He thanked the church in Nigeria for upholding the unity of the country. The president said that the turnout at the event reflected the character and personality of the APC national chairman, adding: “We are gathered to honour Mama, our dear mother, Mama Lydia Yilwatda, mother of our party chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda. Your mother lived a good life, and the achievement of life is to leave a good name behind. She left a good seed behind. That was why we decided to choose you to lead us as our national chairman.
“You are a great thinker, a performer, a progressive performer. Thank you for being who you are. You can see the turnout today, all the governors, all the national leaders available are here to honour you and your mother.
“Your mother must have prayed to make you who you are today. I thank your mother for her prayers. You are a good seed and you must succeed. Your mother lived a dedicated life, she lived for humanity, and she dedicated her life to God.
“The turnout at your mother’s funeral is a way to promote unity, contentment, satisfaction, love, peace, and productive leadership to our nation. You have a big challenge at hand, but thank God you are mature enough for it.
“To the clergy, I thank you for your solemn remarks, thank you for promoting peace, stability and friendliness on the Plateau. Hatred is not an option to us.”
Earlier in a funeral mass sermon, Rev. Dr. Mudimka Yohanna, chairman Provincial Church council (PCC), COCIN Jos, said everything in life is seasonal.
His words: “There is time and season for everything, time to plant, time to harvest. It means there is time to be born and time to die. The time between life and death means different things to different people. To a businessman time is money, to a politician time is to campaign and win elections, to a contemporary man of God it is a time to win souls. But the bible tells us that the time between life and death is meant to glorify God, it’s the time to do the will of God.
“God has given all of us time to spend, time then is a resource that God gave everyone of us, and we shall account for it after all. The management of time given to us by God is metaphorically referred to as planting and harvesting, what you plant is what you harvest.
“Life generally is like farming and harvesting, but what kind of seed are you planting? Is it bad seed or good seed? If you are a fake pastor deceiving people in your sermon, you are planting a bad seed. If you are a politician going about executing a selfish agenda and not the agenda of people that gave the mandate, you are sowing a bad seed. If you are a civil servant, not playing the game according to the rules, remember a day of reckoning is coming.
“Mama Lydia and her husband were conscious of this word of God, that was why they dedicated their lives to serving God. Both of them served God and retired with no house of their own. This couple maximized their time well, they sowed the good seed by serving humanity and not themselves. And the Bible said whoever that served people instead of themselves will inherit eternal life.
“The caliber of personalities attending Mama’s funeral mass today shows that the scripture is fulfilled in the kind of life she lived. It shows Nana Lydia died as a hero.”
Nentawe Yilwatda said his mother was diagnosed 47 years ago, stressing that God had a purpose for preserving her life until the time she died.
“God has preserved the life of my mother after she was diagnosed 47 years ago. So, today, I’m full of gratitude to God for sparing the life of my mother despite medical reports.
“My mother was not just a woman, she was a strong and determined woman. She was a workaholic who worked round the clock. My father was a missionary who earned barely little, but my mother worked very hard to make sure we went to the best school in the world. That is the kind of woman the entire Nigeria is celebrating today.
“Let me thank his Excellency and all the dignitaries that are here at this funeral for giving me a shoulder to cry on. Your calls and show of concern were enough to dry up my tears. I thank you so much for your show of love.
“Let me particularly thank the progressive governors that are here, the national secretary, the government and people of Plateau state led by Gov Caleb Mutfwang.
“Let me thank my father, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, you know I have no father and mother any more, please adopt me as your first son.”
Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who was represented by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, said that the testimonies given at the funeral show that the mother of the national chairman is resting in heaven and that was enough consolation to those he left behind.
Senator Godswill Akpabio led the National Assembly members to the funeral, which was attended by a number of dignitaries including governors of Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kebbi, Delta, Taraba, Lagos, Ogun, Kogi, Jigawa states respectively.
Former governors of Plateau State, speaker and members of the Plateau State House of Assembly, as well as serving and former ministers and others were in attendance.
