Pastor Tunde Bakaer of the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global
Community Church, formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly, has slammed
the Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government, saying the President has
failed Nigerians and disappointed a lot of his followers and supporters.
Speaking during an Instagram Live Chat with popular journalist, Dele
Momodu, Bakare said the President has not met the expectations Nigerians
had when they elected him into office in 2015.
The cleric bemoaned the lack of leadership, especially with the rising
cases of kidnapping and killing, causing non-state actors to take the
law into their own hands.
He said, “We are praying hard that the country will survive and become
strong again, this is not what we all call the Nigeria of our dreams.
Nigeria will survive and will become the Nigeria of our dreams but right
now, things are not together, especially with the drum of disintegration
which is louder than before.
“Nigeria is better together, if we go back together to the basics of how
we came together, looking at 1960 and 1963, we can still be together. We
are not there yet, but we are getting closer.
“The truth of the matter is it is still the same Buhari; in the midst of
many competing interests, we respond differently. The President is still
himself, some have even asked me if he is not somebody else.
“Power changes people, has power changed him or is he making the best
situation of the circumstances? He will be the one to answer it. The
expectations of Nigerians, including everyone who woke up to say we need
a breath of fresh air, has not been met. There is a feeling of
disappointment.
“Citizens have the right to demand good governance. People deserve the
government they get.”
Citing a biblical illustration, he said, “We rejected the Peoples
Democratic Party and embraced All Progressives Congress’sl change but it
appears we have been shortchanged.”
The cleric was the running mate of Buhari in the 2011 presidential
election. The duo, who ran on the platform of the Congress for
Progressive Change, lost to former President Goodluck Jonathan and
Namadi Sambo of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Buhari ran again and won in 2015 with Prof Yemi Osinbajo on the platform
of All Progressives Congress. Change was the mantra of the ruling party
in 2015.