Stop playing God – Pastor Tunde Bakare tells Tinubu

Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, CGCC, Pastor Tunde Bakare, yesterday, X-rayed the state of the nation and urged President Bola Tinubu to stop playing God in the affairs of Nigeria

While he expressed worry that the Tinubu administration is steering the polity adrift, the cleric lampooned the leadership of the National Assembly saying it has become a “haven for legislative rascality.”

He also called for the reconstitution and redesigning of the country’s security architecture, lamenting that past leaders have failed to muster the political will to tackle the security challenges.

Bakare delivered a State of the Nation broadcast titled ‘Let the people know the truth and the country is safe—Abraham Lincoln ‘,which was held at the Church’s auditorium in Ikeja, Lagos,

The fiery televangelist said though he disagrees with the politics of President Tinubu, “I am speaking up today because, again, I do not want the president to fail. It is not in the interest of any Nigerian, let alone the Nigerians whose survival hangs in the balance, for President Tinubu to fail. Whether we like it or not, this administration holds the reins of our economy, and we cannot allow them to flush it down the drain.”

Explaining that the broadcast was not aimed at condemning but to guide and admonish the Tinubu government, Bakare said: “The purpose of this address is not to condemn, but to guide; not to blame, but to admonish; not to dismiss ongoing efforts to stabilise the economy, but to offer an alternative path; to show how we can reimagine Nigeria and put an end to the sufferings of the Nigerian people.”

His words: “It is fitting that today’s (yesterday) State of the Nation broadcast is being delivered to a nation in need of resurrection this Easter Sunday. In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet was transported to a valley full of dry bones where God asked him, ‘Can these bones live?’ I imagine He is also asking us today: “Can Nigeria live?” If we think of the mass grave in Bassa, Jos into which over 50 of our citizens were lowered on Tuesday; if we think of the sense of foreboding, hunger, sorrow, shame, and utter hopelessness, we may be moved in our broken humanity to answer, ‘No.’

“Yet, it is precisely in moments such as this, when hope, far from being renewed, is depleted; it is in moments like this that truth becomes as precious as oxygen to our body politic.

“For today’s (yesterday) State of the Nation Broadcast, I am borrowing words attributed to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, as my title. He said: ‘Let the people know the truth and the country is safe. ‘Only by confronting our reality with honesty and courage can we begin the work of resurrection – not just of our nation, but of our collective broken spirits.

“People of faith have prayed to the point of weariness, and any call for prayer now appears to be a mere religious ritual. Some have concluded that we have prayed long enough and that unless certain pragmatic steps are taken with immediate effect, the rage of the poor may engineer social, economic, and political worst-case scenarios.

“To avert the full-blown breakdown of law and order in our fragile democracy and the intervention of our already battle-weary armed forces, I offered timely counsel to the Nigerian government and led prayers for the administration of President Bola Tinubu on Sunday, January 12, 2025.

“The past few months since that admonition have shown that those responsible for steering the course of our nation lack the humility and character this moment demands of leaders. Instead, what we have seen since the beginning of the year is a descent into tyranny and the brazen abuse of power. Those entrusted with power appear determined to destabilise what is left of our political institutions and have committed themselves to obliterate the guardrails of constitutional governance.

“From the theatre of the absurd staged in Rivers State, with puppets on strings controlled by directors in Abuja, to the dance of shame performed by the National Assembly in their rush to suspend the constitution and endorse, through the backdoor, the usurpation of powers by President Bola Tinubu; from the Senate’s shameless bid to silence Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for demanding that the President of the Nigerian Senate uphold the moral standards required of that office, to the uncouth outbursts of an undistinguished senatorial misfit who tried in vain to silence the distinguished citizens attempting to testify on behalf of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, it is clear that our so-called leaders are determined to turn Nigeria into a mafia state.

“The two main contenders in the ongoing institutional immorality Olympics are the executive and the legislature. It is often said that these two arms of government suffered the worst forms of arrested development because they were the direct victims of the military era, but after 26 years of uninterrupted democracy, one must ask: how much longer before our institutions finally mature?

“While it is not in dispute that our institutions and constitution are inadequate, it has become obvious that our biggest problems are the occupiers of these institutions and executors of the constitution. The quality of leadership in Nigeria has become so repugnant that citizens must declare a state of emergency on governance, demanding that every aspiring public officeholder undergoes rigorous psychiatric evaluation before seeking election.

“Dear Nigerians, the events that unfolded on the floor of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, are an apt and timely illustration of our leadership deficit. Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi’s descent into street-level vitriol was an affront to the essence of the Senate. Instead of engaging the visiting citizens in reasoned, factual debate, he chose to drag the hallowed chambers through the mud.

“At the centre of this political banditry is the motor park brand of politics nurtured by the old brigade politicians and, in recent times, by President Tinubu. Mr President, it is through your influence that the Nigerian National Assembly has become a haven for legislative rascality. Mr President, it is under your watch that the National Assembly has become an extension of the executive, grossly violating the principles of separation of powers, and rubber-stamping the whims and caprices of your office, all while singing the international anthem of sycophants: ‘On your mandate we shall stand.’

“To the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under whose brand of politics the institution of legislative oversight is collapsing and our democracy is faced with an existential threat, I say: Mr President, Nigeria is too delicate for this kind of politics. If this state capture was what you meant by emi lo kan, it is an anti-climax that can only be counterproductive in the end. I urge you, Mr President, to think deeply and reflect on these words: “No man is wise enough or good enough to be trusted with unlimited power. Please, stop playing God.”

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