On 5th March, 2011, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the CPC Vice-Presidential candidate was reported to have said that the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) initially set out to team up with President Jonathan for a better Nigeria. He was reported to have said “Three times we went to him to inquire about his plans for Nigeria. He replied that he had none yet.”
Since I read the reports, I have been worried about what partisan politics can do to people. I am worried because I had a lot of respect for Pastor Tunde Bakare and I considered him as my distant Pastor. Although, I do not belong to his church, I normally go to his church to buy his cassettes. I also used to listen to him regularly on TV.
I was always impressed with his courage, teaching and passion for transformation of Nigeria. As a Christian, I am aware that men of God try as much as possible to refrain from telling lies because the Bible is very hard on liars. ProverbS 19: 9 says a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish. Rev 21:8 says but as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolators, and all liars their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death.
Now back to the SNG and visit to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. There is nowhere in the public documents of SNG that it was stated that the purpose was to team up with the PDP government of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for a better Nigeria. I was therefore shocked when I read the statements credited to Pastor Tunde Bakare.
On the meeting with the President, I was part of one of the delegations. The main issue raised at the meeting with the President who was acting then was the need to be more decisive in the face of the country drifting apart as a result of Yar’Adua’s absence and how it was being managed. We reminded him that as acting President, he had all the powers of the Presidency.
In his reply, he responded to all the issues that were raised. In his response, he made a statement that I still remember very vividly that “any person who utilizes more than 40 percent of the powers available to him/her will constitute a problem to himself and a nuisance to society.” He noted that he was aware of his powers but that he was restraining himself because of stability and unity of the country.
After the meeting, we reviewed the visit and we were satisfied and impressed with the response and decided to continue the struggle of the SNG for orderly political succession. The performance of GEJ in office is another issue altogether. I do not want to think that my Pastor Tunde Bakare will tell lies. Perhaps the three meetings he alluded to did not include the one that I was part of. God help Nigeria.
By Dr. Otive Igbuzor
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