President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday urged state governors to stop refraining from signing death warrants of criminals condemned to death by courts of competent jurisdiction.
He said the governorsought to know that the jobthey were elected to do had both the sweet and the ugly parts.
The President added that the states chief executives must be willing to carry out all their responsibilities according to the law, no matter how painful such might appear.
Jonathan stated these in his remarks at the special Fathers’ Day service, organised by the Aso Villa Chapel.
He said, “Discipline can be in various forms. In the states, it could be admonition. Magistrate can just admonish and allow an offender to go. From admonition to various forms of punishments; it could be imprisonment. The extreme is capital punishment.
“In the case of capital punishment, the state governors will sign. Evengovernors sometimes find it difficult to sign. I have been telling the governorsthat they must sign because that is the law. The works we are doing have a very sweet part and a very ugly part, and we must perform both. No matter how painful it is; it is part of their responsibilities.”
The President urged fathers to ensure that they discipline their children when the err, stressing that the love they showered on their children might come to nought if the children were not properly brought up.
He said it was important for parents, particularly fathers, to continually impress it on their children on the need to be upright in all their endeavours.
He recalled how he and his siblings always resorted to crying once they heard the voice of his late father approaching, after they might have committed an offence.
He regretted that discipline at home was gradually becoming extinct because of modern life.
Jonathan said, “If we look through all the references that have to do with the father in the Bible, you will see that we expect a father to show love. The father is the breadwinner of the family, to take care of the mother and the children; to provide food for them and take care of their education. We expect fathers to be role models, where children will want to be like their fathers.
“I want to urge all of us who are fathers to discipline our children. No matter what you do, even if you show love and provide the needs of the family, if you don’t discipline your children, it is not good.
“Like my late father, when we were small, anytime we committed an offence and we heard his voice that he was coming, we would start crying. You would not wait to see him because you know what would happen to you.”
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