Governor Monday Okpebholo

By Jethro Ibileke

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has ordered the restoration of the weekly mass held at the Government House Chapel.

Okpebholo gave the order to restore the weekly mass on Monday when the State branch of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Nigeria (CCRN), paid a courtesy visit to him in his office.

The delegation was led by its Coordinator, Mr. Otakhor Thaddeus Iredia.

The Chapel Chaplain, Rev. Fr. Daniel Iyangbe, had appealed to the Governor to have masses in Government House on a weekly basis which was stopped due to politics that did not concern the church.

The Governor who assured the group of the commencement of the weekly mass, told the leader of the group to ask the Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin, Archbishop Austin Akubueze, to pick a date for the masses to commence.

He also assured that work will soon commence on the long stretch of road linking the prayer ground along Upper Ekenwan, in fulfilment of his campaign promise.

According to him, surveyors have already mapped the road, and work will commence soon.

He thanked the CCRN for the visit and its recognition of his developmental strides in Edo State, barely one month in office.

He said: “I thank you for coming here and recognizing me, and thank you for the prayers. I remember coming to the church, and I promised that I was coming to build that road that leads to your prayer ground as it continues to ring a bell in my heart.

“People have come to survey it, and soon, work will commence as the road is a very long one, and we will be able to do it before the rain starts.

“The house of God is a house of prayer, and anything decreed on earth shall be established in heaven. I believe in your prayers, and I know that with the prayers of the Saints, we shall have peace.

“I request for prayers for peace upon Edo State and the land as well. Also, pray for the President for wisdom to lead the nation.

“I urge you to tell the Bishop to choose a day in the week for the masses to commence and if I am free, I will also join you in praying for the State and the nation,” he concluded.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation of CCRN, Otakhor Thaddeus Iredia, congratulated the Governor on his victory at the polls, saying that over 28,000 members of CCRN are praying for him to lead the State well.

“We thank God for all he is doing in the State, and your actions in the last few weeks will bring all He has started in you into perfection.

“In the middle of the year, you were with us in our upper room where we prayed for you and asked God to make your dream come through, and indeed, it came to pass.

“We thank the Governor for sending surveyors to do the mapping of the CCRN road at Upper Ekenwan a few weeks ago. You promised us that within 100 days in office, you will put the road leading to God’s house in good shape and as a community. We are praying for you,” he stated.