Tunde Bakare, one of the most vocal pastors in Nigeria and a one-time convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), said this at the launch of Project 16 in his church in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria recently.
He condemned money politics and charged his people to ask questions from money bags.
“You are here because you want to see the 16 unveiled. Can you see it? They frighten you with bullion vans and you run after them. You don’t even bother to check, what are you bringing? What is your manifesto? What are you going to do differently? Do we ask those questions? No. They don’t even look at the manifesto at all because they know you and I. It is Area Father that said “our mumu don too much.”
“I promise you, I don’t need more than four years to set the template and then for next generation to build upon it because I am too old. Gowon ruled this country at the age of 34; I am 68, that’s double his age,” he said.
He anchored the need of Nigeria on four point-agenda, which included peace, progress, prosperity and possibility.
He taught his congregation the need for good parenting as a panacea for peace in society, emphasising the need for massive employment opportunities for the country’s youths.
He revealed a dream he had in 2008 thus:
“I had a second dream exactly three years after the first one. In the dream, I saw myself on top of a massive white rock like the Snowcat of Switzerland, except it is not unbearable cold. I was sitting between two of the greatest Nigerians of all time: General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Obafemi Awolowo. We were overlooking the map of Nigeria and discussing a bright future and development trajectory.
“I woke up believing I will have a role to play in the future development of Nigeria and her greatness. It’s my firm belief that our country will turn around for the better during the tenure of the 16th president of Nigeria, and I have a destined role to play in making that happen.”
He narrated a dream he had to his listeners and called out a member of his church Segun Oshinaga to answer questions on what transpired years back, and the following conversation ensued:
“2008 was the year my father’s house was turned into a historical heritage museum, courtesy of Ogun State. You were in government then, I was sitting outside. I said, ‘go up and down and count the number of steps.’ What happened, sir?’ he asked.
‘And I went up and came down and said to you, 16 steps,’ Oshinaga responded. ‘So, what did I say to you?’ Bakare asked
‘You said to me, write it down, I will be the 16th President of Nigeria,’ “Oshinaga replied.
He concluded by saying, “You want me to roll out a manifesto; you want me to roll out that I am going to contest? No, no, we have got to fix this and fix it well, and then every right thing will begin to spring forth.
“We will be in power before 23, go and write it down. I have told you before, we will be there, delivering service, championing good things, credible things that will cause the nation to say, ‘wait a minute, I think this man can help us.’ ”
Bakare is not a stranger or outsider to the Nigerian political class. He was the vice-presidential candidate to the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, in the 2011 presidential election, when they both ran on a joint Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) ticket. He also moved the motion for the merger when his then political party, the CPC, merged with other parties to form the APC.
As early as 2019, Bakare had said he would be the 16th President of Nigeria and successor of President Muhammadu Buhari.
During one of his sermons on a Sunday in 2019, he said that nothing could change it because he was born for that purpose.
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