In this interview with JESUSEGUN ALAGBE, the founder of The Latter Rain Assembly and convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, shares his thoughts on the country’s 56th Independence anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and other issues
Nigeria is marking its 56th Independence anniversary today. Is there anything worth celebrating?
If you ask a sick man who has gone through a lot of problems in his health and has made it through the Intensive Care Unit and is now beginning to live again, ‘Is there anything worth celebrating?’, he will answer you and say, ‘You should try to be in my previous predicament for you to know where I’m coming from and then you’ll see the reason for my celebration.’ There’s a lot to thank God for. We are not better than many nations which have broken into pieces. We are not better than many nations which have gone through bloodbath, but God’s grace and mercy have helped us to still forge ahead. It’s worth celebrating and when I say we should celebrate, I’m not talking about frivolity or spending the money that we don’t have to pay the workers or the money we could spend on much better things. I’m talking about having a sober moment to thank God and ask for a new opportunity to do it again, a new opportunity to build our nation so we can get the best of what God has in stock for this country.
If someone asks, ‘What is there to be celebrated about Independence in the midst of an economic recession? Why should I be happy?’ What will be your response?
First, we should thank God that we are alive to witness the 56th Independence anniversary. I was in school when the first anniversary was celebrated. I remember the fanfare, the flag, the jollof rice that we cooked to mark it. That was in 1961. And now, 55 years after, there are many individuals who have benefitted from this country. Such people should have moments of sober reflection to see how they can contribute their quota to make this country great again. I have a deep-seated feeling, you can call me an incurable optimist. I have this feeling that the future of Nigeria is more glorious than our past, all because of the intervention we expect from God and a change of heart from the leadership and people of our country. So we should thank God that we’re alive to see the future despite the challenges we might be facing. We must not give up on our country. There’s no other nation we can call ours. I remember that God who predetermined the boundary of every nation at the time of their creation also distributed to each nation gifts, endowments and gave each an inheritance. So it’s high time we located what ours is and maximise it. Nigeria is too rich to sell its assets at this time…
So you are against the sale of assets?
We must think beyond selling our assets. We are too rich to say we want to sell our national assets like the prodigal son did and we should not be little-minded like the elder brother of the prodigal son by saying we have little. There is much more in our ground. There’s so much in our human capital to be developed. I met a Nigerian recently who is a great designer of automobiles. He’s from Sokoto State and is making a huge impact abroad. He’s thinking about how to replicate what he has done abroad here at home. I look forward to a time when the resources of the best and the brightest — North, East, West and South — would come together to make this country great again.
Could this country be great again without restructuring?
It depends on what you mean. There are many people who are touting it and don’t even understand what it means. Restructuring is not about dividing this country and asking each region to go into disintegration. This is it: We have 36 states and not up to four among them can stand on their feet. Why do we create those artificialities that will keep on wasting our resources? In the past, the golden era was when the regions had opportunities to create, according to the law, and to maxi
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