BY BANYO TEMITAYO
SERVING Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said he will never give up on President Muhammadu Buhari, regardless of the circumstances.
He said the President could only do his bit in the efforts at setting things right in the nation, while others would also play their parts.
Bakare who was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election, under the Congress for Progressive Change, added that he could not also give up on Nigeria because his destiny was intertwined with that of the nation.
He spoke during a sermon in Church, monitored by THE POINT on Sunday.
He said, “I was talking to some friends; we constantly meet in Abuja to discuss the present, the future of Nigeria and what we think can be done. And when they were talking, I said to them: Why I will never give up on Buhari is that he can only do his bit, if he is a forerunner, others will come and fix it.
“I can never give up on him because any friendship that ends never started. Regardless of what he does, he is one person; regardless of who surrounds him.”
The pastor noted that he could not also give up on Nigeria because of the circumstances of his birth.
“When I was born, for the first three years, I couldn’t walk, I would crawl to go and get water, until my third birthday when I got up and started running. My mother never gave up on me; if she had given up on me, I would have given up,” he said.
“If Nigeria is crawling and can’t walk, I will never give up on this nation. No matter what happens, I will never give up on this nation because my destiny is intertwined with that of this nation. Nigeria will be saved; Nigeria will be changed; Nigeria will become great in my lifetime,” Bakare, who is also the Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society (Africa), declared.
On the current Fulani herdsmen crisis in the South West and the various narratives surrounding it, he advised Nigerians to mind their utterances in the interest of peace.
He said, “Not all Fulanis are evil. Stop the nonsense going on in our land. There are criminals among Fulanis, there are criminals among Yorubas, there are criminals among Igbos. Don’t make a sweeping statement to paint everybody with the same paint.
“The Lord will begin to diminish the criminals amongst us, East, West and South, and let a new culture evolve in our land. Don’t misuse your tongue to bastardise everybody and just call everyone names.
“What do you want to say about me? If I tell you the story of my life now, they will call me Fulani, so I’ll keep quiet. I’m a thoroughbred Nigerian and the hope of Africa is getting Nigeria right so that every black man, everywhere can walk tall.”
Recall that Pastor Bakare had recently explained that he was quoted out of context in reports that quoted him as saying that President Buhari had disappointed Nigerians.
He said the newspapers chose the angle they liked and misrepresented the facts in the process, in order to sell their papers.
He was quoted to have said that there was a general feeling of disappointment among Nigerians with the Buhari administration.
Bakare had, in an interview with the Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, said the drum of disintegration was louder in Nigeria than before, but that he was optimistic that the country would survive and become “the Nigeria of our dreams”.
