I am struggling to build my village house – President Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said he is struggling to build his house in his Otuoke village, Bayelsa State.

He said he might give out the house before he dies if he found out that his children are not ready to live in the village.

Jonathan spoke in Lagos at a fund-raiser for St. Stephens Anglican Deanery and Youth Development Centre, Otuoke.

He said, “We are all mortal beings, we are all biological specimen so we will all die but when we die, what will we be remembered for, what will we leave behind?

“I use to tell people that even the house I am struggling to build in the village, these days in this global age, how am I sure that my children will even stay in my  root. They want to go to West Indies, they want to go to Latin America.

“So, I was even joking with people that if I look at the behaviour of my children and if I don’t see any of them that will patronise the village, I will donate my house before I die.”

The President urged wealthy Nigerians to make meaningful contributions to the development of poor communities in the country in order to better the lives of the youth and empower them to make useful contributions towards national development.

He said the project for the St. Stephens Anglican Deanery and Youth Development Centre was dear to him because he wanted to make sure that the younger generation passed through a better system of education different from the one he experienced while growing up.

“I feel the only thing I can do is to make sure that from nursery school to primary and secondary school, there should be a standard educational facility and youth programme, so that it gives opportunity for the younger ones to grow. Even if we die in the next 100 years,  people will remember that those before them have something for them,” he said.

Present at the occasion were Chairman of Visafone, Jim Ovia; Chairman Capital oil, Chief Ifeanyi Uba; Chairman of A-Z Oil, Chika Okafor,  Chairman Arik Air, Joseph Arumemi–Ikhide, Oba Otudeko and Tony Elumelu.

Also present were Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo, ministers, senators, members of the House of Representatives and prominent indigenes of Otuoke.