In what he described as a rare opportunity to make history, founder, the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to, in the next three years of his administration, institutionalise a system of accurate succession plan that will sustain Nigeria on path to nationhood and ensure it is not once again handed over to treasury looters.
Making reference to succession plans of leaders of countries like Singapore, China, South Africa, Bakare stressed the expediency of a strong post-Buhari legacy, facilitated by accurate succession plan by the current government, coupled with strong leadership and erection of strong institutions.
Bakare made these calls during a State of the Nation Broadcast with the theme: “Unveiling the True Enemies of Nigeria” aired on African Independent Television (AIT), on Sunday.
For the over three years left for the current administration, Bakare charged Buhari to provide strong leadership through result-oriented governance, being a unifier of an increasingly fragmented and disillusioned populace, accepting dissent and listening to contrarian views.
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While urging Buhari to tackle the enemies of the nation headlong, Bakare also charged the President to surround himself with the most competent persons, even those more intelligent than himself.
Following showing strong leadership, Bakare called for the strengthening of institutions by adherence to the rule of law, enforcement of transparency and accountability in government expenditure.
He described as a disaster waiting to happen the failure of some government agencies to file their accounts for several years.
Bakare further called for the strengthening of institutions and the nation’s economy through pragmatic fiscal and monetary policies, the entrenchment of effective education and healthcare policies.
“In the first three years of this decade, which coincide with the last three years of his administration, the President must take the lead in building a legacy that will facilitate the emergence of the Nigeria of our dreams.
“This government must be driven by strong leadership. Africa needs strong leaders that will build strong institutions. Therefore, strong leadership must be the first pivotal agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari government in the next three years.
“To cultivate strong leadership, the leader must surround himself or herself with the best, brightest and the most competent, particularly those who are more intelligent than oneself. The leader must be willing to take the blame for failure, and share the credit for success. Very importantly, providing strong leadership means that the Nigerian government must be ready to confront the true enemies of our nation headlong and free the Nigerian people from the grip of her oppressors.
“Upon the foundation of strong leadership should be to strengthen institutions. We must strengthen institutions of justice by adherence to the rule of law and respect for court judgments. Those who desecrate the courts must be brought to book to restore the sanctity and independence of the judiciary.
“We must strengthen institutions of economic growth through geo-economic reorganisation as well as pragmatic fiscal and monetary policies. To strengthen these institutions, we must codify best practices while embracing innovation. We must also run inclusive structures that bridge transgenerational and gender gaps to ensure that the baton of success is passed on from one generation to another.
“The third pivotal objective of governance should be to build a strong post-Buhari legacy facilitated by accurate succession. In this regard, Nigeria must learn from some of the best succession examples in recent history. We must the story of Singapore whose former prime minister once said Mr Lee Quan Yu has always emphasized political succession and when I took over likewise, I planned for succession. Prime Minister Lee is also working very hard to plan for succession.
“Therefore as we build institutions of democratic governance, a key responsibility that history has bestowed on President Muhammadu Buhari at turning point in our journey to nationhood is to institutionalise systems of accurate succession that will build and sustain the Nigeria we desire not the ones that will hand us over again to treasury looters,” Bakare said.
He particularly hit hard at “enemies” of the nation which he said were present at all levels and arms of government as well as among the citizens themselves.
Bakare particularly took a swipe at Nigerians either as beneficiaries or benefactors who continue to perpetuate the cycle of corruption and celebrate rather than condemn looters.
He described the enemies of the nations as those pervert men of God who hide under the pulpit to manipulate the vulnerable, those government officials that impose multiple tax burdens on Nigerians, those “power-drunk” state governors who utilise security votes for their personal interests rather than that of the public they were meant to serve.
Furthermore, he chided those state governors who paralyse local government structures, deploy their paraphernalia of office to quell dissent and specialise not in infrastructural development but in stomach infrastructure.
In the same manner, Bakare condemned zonal leaders who pervert their interests on states in the zones, merchandise the will of the people by vote-buying thereby installing their stooges who corner resources and serve their interests.
At the federal level, he lampooned those advisers of President doing so to protect their political careers, as well as legislators who loot the nation’s treasury under the guise of constituency projects.
“At the federal level, the true enemies of Nigeria are in every arm of government. In the judiciary, they are judges who pervert justice and auction judgments to the highest bidder. In the legislature, they are those legislators who rob the nation under the guise of constituency projects and are quick to pass laws that undermine our national freedoms thereby threatening our national stability.
“In the executive arm of government, the enemies of our nation are those who deploy the machinery of state against hapless citizens, those who serve self rather than the people, adversaries clad as advisers who could inadvertently the legacy of any President through fabricated facts and contrive counsel in a bid to protect their political careers.
“These are the true enemies we must stand up against not the angry young fellow who throws salvos at President hoping to get a few retweets, not the dissenting voice in the midst of sycophants. We must stop celebrating the enemies of our nation,” Bakare said.
Speaking further, he described the controversial social media bill as misguided, noting the nation’s federal lawmakers should rather focus on laws that will “further empower our teeming young population to not just be constructive users of social media but to be creators of homegrown solutions able to compete globally in a technology-driven world.”
“The fact that some persons have deployed this tool (social media) in ways that have been less than honourable does not justify the attempted clampdown on freedom of speech by some legislators who major in minors. I too have been a victim of social media, I have been misrepresented, maligned and falsely characterised by mischief makers but I will not support the suppression of the most potent tool for citizen engagement in the 21st century through a misguided social media bill.
“To combat abuse, we should provide incentives for the proper usage of this tool through reward systems that will encourage the honour code, promote responsible conversations and discourage dishonourable use.
“These young Nigerians who have found their voices on social media are not enemies of Nigeria. They are the hope of our nation. They are simply expressing the character of our DNA and the virtues that give us independence, virtues such as the audacity to assemble as communities, including online communities, and to voice their opposition to corruption and oppression.
“If social media had been invented in the days of our founding fathers, they would have deployed it too in resisting colonial rule and fighting for our independence, just as effectively deployed by the conventional media such as newspapers to achieve these objectives,” Bakare said.
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