Pastor Tunde Bakare, the overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC) (previously Latter Rain Assembly), has stated that what Nigeria currently requires is a President who is most qualified to lead the country to Eldorado, rather than agitation for power rotation.
He disclosed this following a private visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday, while fielding questions from State House media.
Bakare, who said he told the President what was on his mind, said it was political “immaturity” that prompted the people to demand a power change after several zones that had previously produced Nigerian leaders had not fared better after many years of idling.
“I’d said that on the 3rd of October,” he said when asked about his views on the continuing discussion about power rotation.
It is our political and other immaturity that leads us to believe that power must reside in either the North or the South, rather than seeking for the best, the fittest, the most competent, and individuals of character who love this country.
Listen to me, if where the president comes from makes the place he comes from better, the Northern part of Nigeria should be the richest, most progressive, and most developed, because the North has produced either the president or heads of state for 40 to 41 years out of 61 years, and yet, see the North’s retrogression.
Why could a person like former President Olusegun Obasanjo freeze and confiscate the account of Lagos State during his own reign if it’s from the South?
Why couldn’t former President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the South-South or South-East, use all of his abilities to help the region develop?
“What matters is what they bring and what they have to offer, not where they come from. May the best of Nigerians, from the East, the West, the North, and the South, rise to the top.”
“A contract is a bargain if there are agreements among politicians on rotation. That’s all there is to it. But, in terms of this country, what we require at this time is a man who can drive us to the Eldorado.”
On whether he would contest the Presidency in 2023, Pastor Bakare expressed readiness to do so if “God” and Nigerians would appreciate it.
He said: “Every Nigerian, who is of age and who is not disqualified by any means, is free. I’m a nation builder, if God wants me to do that, and the people of Nigeria will appreciate that, why not? I’m as free as anybody to do anything with my time. I’ve pastored a church for 33 years, now we raise new leaders. I want to focus on nation building.
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“The Office of the President is only one office, there’s so many other things we can do as people to support whoever is there to make sure that we do not go into retrogression, but begin to make steady progress as a people. I’ve already communicated clearly, my future plans to Mr. President, and it stays between us.”
He described the adoption of electronic transmission of election results as one of the best things the present National Assembly had done.
He said it would be a wonderful idea to allow Nigerians in diaspora and the usually disenfranchised 22.3 million students vote during the next elections.
Pastor Bakare, who was asked to explain how he wanted Nigeria to be restructured, said it could be done without shooting any gun.
He said the founding fathers had already agreed on the type of government and that the goal post must not be changed in the middle of the game.
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He stressed that restructuring must however be based on equity, justice, fair play and rule of law.
He said: “We need to do it, to move this nation forward. The founding fathers of this nation;Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, alongside with their entourage, in Lancaster House and everywhere, agreed on what type of government Nigeria should have. We must not change the goalpost in the midst of the game.
“We are better off together as a nation than going our different ways. But it must be based on equity, justice, fair play and a rule of law.”
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