Radical cleric Tunde Bakare who was once known for his fierce support for President Muhammadu Buhari now says it is time for a leadership overall in Nigeria.
Bakare has also dismissed suggestions by some of the country’s leaders that Nigeria’s terms of engagement as a nation were outside the realms of negotiation.
Bakare who is the head of the Citadel Community church spoke on Sunday while addressing his congregation, insisting, “we need fresh hands and insights into how to fix the problems of Nigeria. Everyone looks tired around the President and we need a change of guards to bring competent people to handle critical issues. I’m not advocating coup d’etat, God forbid; that will set us back by many years again. Military coup landed us in the trouble we are.”
He said there were forces influencing those in government to misbehave.
The head pastor of the church said President Buhari must not pass the buck when it comes to his responsibility to lead the process for enthroning a worthy national constitution for Nigeria.
According to him, “I am persuaded, as are many fellow compatriots within and outside the shores of Nigeria, that the 1999 constitution, whether as amended or to be further amended by the national assembly, is nothing more than a glorified death certificate.”
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“I say to President Muhammadu Buhari, ‘Stop passing the ball to the National Assembly. Tear down this inhibiting concoction of a constitution; tear it down so that we can build a truly great nation. This is one enduring legacy your administration can still secure before your time in power draws to a close. If you do, present and unborn generations of Nigerians will remember you for it and write your name in gold when the history of this period is written. If you don’t, history will record that you failed to rise to the occasion and you squandered a great opportunity.’
“Those clamouring for and waiting for genuine change to happen through the upcoming 2023 presidential election, without first insisting that our imposed sham of a constitution must be torn and discarded, are merely putting the cart before the horse. This is nothing but a prescription for retrogression.”
Bakare added that Nigeria needed a geopolitical structure capable of proving the enabling environment for every zone to maximise its economic opportunities and that this can be attained by a “pragmatic approach to restructuring Nigeria, rather than by mere zoning of the presidency”.
Bakare pledged to move the quest for a better Nigeria “to the public square, conference centres, as well as banquet halls and hotels across the country and other nations of the earth. This we’ll do in as many places and doors as the good Lord will open to us in order to stir up the spirit of Nigerians home and abroad to take their nations back with a view to rebuilding its weak place.
“It is time to carry the battle to the gates of the enemy, and inspire our people home and abroad to rescue their nation from the opportunists in power at all levels of government in our nation. There are forces of devil that influence those in government to misbehave in power and to do the wrong things that will put people in subjugation and oppression.”
