PASTOR BAKARE’S FIRY OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT TINUBU, ECONOMY AND THE ILLOGISM OF BAD _BELE_ POLITICS
by Nelson Fashina
Pastor Bakare is, invariably, one of the most brilliant, radical and vocal voices in Nigeria, even as a pastor-politician. Not only are his Christian religious sermons very powerful and persuasive, but his carriage and candour exhumes a personality who has a strong brand of education , international exposure and an incredible courage.
On this note, I always standstill to listen whenever he speaks on any subject of national or religious concern. Therefore, I took time to listen to his recent eloquent and social-media viral standpoint against President Tinubu’s Govt in a recent video.
Unfortunately, this time around, I don’t cherish Pastor Bakare’s brilliant but seeming overreactional opposition to President Tinubu’s relatively good governance.
On the scale of leadership intelligence and depth of regulatory control, this Tinubu-led Govt may be adjudged as one of the best since Nigeria’s Independence.
Every great politician is a strategist. As such, the charm of political witticism that Tinubu possesses is a force that has stabilised his most criticised administration. In fact, Tinubu is, perhaps, the most rudely vilified President of Nigeria in our contemporary times, age and time. Yet, he has a large heart and an absorbent shock device that ensures his unwavering resilience to phd criticisms (pull him down). Despite this onslaughts, and sometimes tribal induced sentiments of oppositional politics, those who have ears and eyes can read the redlines of truth, facts about his leadership achievements. Let me suggest, in all honesty that Tinubu’s leadership stamina has stood the test of time despite his Removal of Fuel Subsidy.
This single action of subsidy abrogation is an evidence of supreme fortitude on the part of President Tinubu. But, the telling effects of that courageous act on the GDP and, invariably the skyrocketing of the pump prices of the premium motor spirit in Nigeria and the telling effects of blocking the huge economic leakages hitherto enjoyed by a powerful cabal in the Petroleum industry has been largely responsible for why the the cabal of *anti-Dangote Petroleum economy have been trying to instigate petroleum lifting and distribution labour unions against *President Tinubu and the messiahnic Dangote Refinery.*
*The 10th Assembly as a Rubber Stamp?*
From many historically materialist definitions of Politics, it is generally accepted that politics is a game of struggle for acquisition and share of political power and economic resources. The amount of these resources that may be in the possession of each leader-politician is a product of his/her wisdom, knowledge, understanding: in a word, tact.
As such, should Tinubu be blamed for the National Assembly’s cooperation with his Govt to tackle Nigeria’s hydra headed problems of insecurity and economic slump which was inherited from late President Buhari’s clueless Govt?
Should Pastor Bakare be blamed that elder members of his Church Cabinet/leadership are not in rivalry with him over parity allocation of spiritual authorities?
In former President Obasanjo’s leadership style, a bit of military authoritarianism was introjected into his bold-face, self-styled leadership. But, because such an approach is alien to constitutional democracy, the National Assembly reacted by raising a vehement opposition to the then President Obasanjo’s seeming admixture of military dictatorship with civilian democracy, because the constitution has entrenchment of separation of powers of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
In the current political scenario, the Legislature are not agitated to feel that they’re being used as rubber stamps to Presidential Executive dictatorship. The National Assembly has no reason to feel that their Legislative Powers are being eroded to the selfish inordinate powers of the President. They do not feel that their constitutional rights are being subverted. As such, the Senator Akpabio-led Senate is not threatened. *As such, I don’t seem to understand the logic in Pastor Bakare’s seeming ‘bad bele’ politics of opposition. Thus, I like to disincline to my most revered Pastor’s political idea on this subject.
*Is the Exodus of Governors to the* *Ruling APC a Weakness of President Tinubu?*
I like to vanish the shallow ideas proposed by the opposition* politicians who blame President Tinubu for the exodus or massive cross-carpeting of Nigerian Governors from their parties to the ruling Party, APC. I have a suspicion that some of the cross-carpeting *Governors may not even have a sincere motive to support Tinubu’s* second term election in 2027.
Who knows: Maybe their inflow into the APC is an intended surprise attack to fight TINUBU within the APC and to subvert his imperial political powers as a formidable and strategic political gamer. My candid reading of the undulating politics of Nigeria is that, nobody can be sure of the stakeholding interest of politicians in real ideology-driven politics. For now, our political landscape is slippery and there’s no investment of heart and conscience in a political party ideology for the benefit of the entire nation. For now, Nigerian politics is driven by narrow and selfish interests which are sometimes anchored on self economic revivalism, religious bigotry, and ethnic or tribal sentiments.
Let me declare that, as of today, any Nigerian technocrat, politician, and even non-Nigerian observers who views the Tinubu-led Administration with jaundice eye of worthlessness must be a mischievous fellow. Since Tinubu inherited a failed economy from the late President Buhari, he has managed it and improved on it to the extent that the Nigerian economy which was in a state of comma is now responding a grand-styled medico-economic treatment. This is quite against the dangerous placebo that the erstwhile Nigeria Govts, in their chequered succession, used to treat the sick economy. Any one who fails to take a holistic and objective view of the comparative low capacity efforts to fix the ailing economy by the pre-Tinubu eras is, at best, guilty of foolish ignorance and mischievous arrogance.
*The War Against the Revised/Amended Electoral*
I wouldn’t blame the opposition for attacking the newly revised electoral law for Nigeria which was amended by the National Assembly and signed into Law by the President. In a multi-party system such a suspicion that the Electoral Law would favour the intent and interests of the Ruling Party is normal and welcome. But, let me advice that the Opposition and stakeholding Nigerians should note that, in Democracy, Power Belongs to the People – a dictum which was adopted by the PDP in those days. INEC should be held responsible. It is not President Tinubu or the National Assembly, neither the Judiciary would conduct the Elections. Therefore, in order to ensure accountability, let the political parties in opposition to the Ruling APC go to the grassroots to mobilise the electorates, to sell their manifestoes, to enlist more members and to ensure that trusted members are assigned as their Polling Boot Agents on the day of election.
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