Ekiti Governor, Engr. Segun Oni has charged intending pilgrims from the State to the Christian Holy Land this year to be good ambassadors of the State and the nation.

Addressing the pilgrims during a departure service in Ado, Governor Oni urged them to pray for the peace and  development of Ekiti State and Nigeria as well as for the quick recovery of President Umar Musa Yar’ Adua.

Oni who urged the pilgrims to see Ekiti State as their own Jerusalem which they must pray for at all times also asked them to have special prayers for the children of the state.

Oni who remarked that this years’ pilgrimage was unique in view of the fact that the state contingent was going to the Holy Land at a period when the world was celebrating the birth of Christ prayed God to grant the intending pilgrims safe journey and good health while in the Holy Land.

Earlier the Chairman of the State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Ven. Olufunsho Aribisala expressed appreciation to Governor Oni and Deputy Governor Sikiru Lawal for making the year’s pilgrimage a reality in spie of the global economic recession.

He said that the state contingent to this year’s pilgrimage is made up of 237 pilgrims out of which 6 are traditional rulers.