President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday paid a surprise visit to Kaduna State, where he commissioned a Bible institute. He arrived the Alheri Camp of the Living Faith Church at about 12:26pm in a chopper.
The Alheri Camp is on the outskirts of Kaduna, along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway. According to our correspondent, the president was received on arrival by Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa and the senior pastor of the church, Pastor PJ Olaya.
In his remarks, the president said only prayers can sustain a nation like Nigeria. He said the church has a big role to play in realising his administration's transformation agenda. He therefore asked church leaders to pray for the country.
Also speaking, Governor Yakowa called for cooperation from all Nigerians to enable the president achieve his transformation agenda. He said the pockets of violence bedevilling Kaduna State are distracting his government. He therefore called for dialogue, saying that there is no alternative to peace.
Daily Trust gathered that due to the engagement, the governor, who was supposed to be the special guest of honour at the Sallah Durbar in Zaria, was represented by the Secretary of the State Government, Lawal Sama'ila Abdullahi as the deputy governor, Alhaji Muktar Ramalan Yaro is in Saudi Arabia.
The president left the state at about 1:30pm in company of Senator Barnabas Gemade and Joshua Dariye, who were on his entourage.{jcomments off}
Attribution: Compass, DailyTrust, Guardian, NationalMirror, NewsWatch, SaharaReporters, Sensor and Vanguard.