Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Wednesday, lambasted the United States of America for passing laws legalising same sex marriage in a country which proud itself as the most powerful nation in the world, just as he described the action as ungodly and a deviation from social norms.

Okowa, who spoke when the Delta State Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba, said Nigeria’s culture bans same sex marriage, saying the legislature took the right steps by legislating against gay marriage in Nigeria.

According to him, “On same sex marriage, Nigeria has taken a position, the National Assembly has passed a law prohibiting it which was signed into law. Nigeria has taken the right part when it comes to same sex marriage.” The Governor noted that it was important for Nigerians to always have their trust in God to enable them succeed in their actions.

He said gay marriage was un-African and anti-Christian, noting that “Nigeria is a disciplined nation, homosexuality is not of God, the entire Christian race does not believe in that and I thank God that Nigeria has taken a stand on the issue.”

Okowa urged the church leaders to use their different denominations to enlighten the people of the programmes of government especially in the area of job creation stating that his administration would not derail in ensuring prosperity for all Deltans.

He said: “We stand by our promises of providing prosperity for all Deltans, though we are being slowed down by the huge debt challenges we face as a state and as a nation, we will be transparent, fair, just and equitable in whatever we do, forms for the empowerment programmes are available online because we don’t want to hear about anybody hijacking the process.”

“We want you to use our churches to educate our people on how to collect the forms, a committee will go round the senatorial districts to conduct interviews, we want to provide opportunity for all Deltans to participate in the programmes. We want to empower our people further, we sent a bill on Technical and Vocational Education which the House of Assembly has passed, we want to return back to technical and vocational education to allow our children acquire technical and entrepreneurial skills to make them self-sustainable.”

He added: “We will soon constitute a board to run our technical schools and vocational centres to train our children on skills acquisition, the church has a lot of roles to play, the traditional institution has a lot of roles to play, we have to actively build a peaceful society and prosperous society.”

On the suspension of civil service recruitment, the Governor explained that it was not a punitive measure but, situation arose because of the financial situation of the state, asserting that while some states in the South-South have less than 20, 000 workforce, Delta State has over 60, 000 with a huge wage bill despite the dwindling resources accruable to the state.

Earlier, Delta State Chairman of CAN, Rev. Gideon Oyibo, said CAN was ready to partner with government to enable it deliver dividends of democracy to the people.

•Photo shows Governor Okowa.

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