By Adewale Kupoluyi

Pastor ‘Tunde Bakare is a common name in this part of the world. He is a lawyer, right activist, teacher, author, and President, Latter Rain Assembly (End-Time Church).

In a state of the nation broadcast themed; “Unveiling the True Enemies of Nigeria”, he offered rich moments to ruminate over our national life by going down memory lane into the political history of African most populous country.

Bakare has identified his perceived true  enemies  of  Nigeria among every level  of  government,  from  the  local  to  the  state  to  the  federal  levels, and  in  every  arm  of  government.  They  can  also  be  found  on  the streets,  in  households  and  in  the  marketplace. The true enemies of Nigeria are those who seek to build their greatness upon their country’s ruin. In Nigeria, the vast majority of our people regularly take turns perpetuating the cycle of corruption either as beneficiaries or benefactors.

According to the pastor, these enemies  in  citizens’  clothing are those that choose  to  be  spectators  while  the  nation  goes down the drain on their watch; those perverts on the pulpit, who hide under togas of godliness to manipulate the vulnerable; those economic behemoths, who  window dress  their  underhandedness  with filthlanthropy;  those who  are  perpetually, those  who  sell their  votes  or  connive  with  political  bandits  to short-change  their children’s  children; those  who  partake  of  loot  and celebrate looters from the same ethnic group or religious organisation; those who say of the looters. These are the true enemies of Nigeria, he argued.

At  the  local  level of  government,  the  true  enemies  of our  nation are those agents   of   oppression, who place   excruciating   multiple   tax burdens on  often  defenceless Nigerians – the petty  traders,  okada riders,    keke    drivers,    bricklayers,    pepper    grinders,    carpenters, vulcanisers,  mechanics  and  other  artisans – not  because  they  want  to amass the  proceeds  for  the  benefit  of the  people, but  because  they must make remittances to their morally bankrupt political benefactors. These are the true enemies of Nigeria, he added.

At   the   state   level,   the true enemies of   Nigeria   are   those   state governments  that  feed  fat  on  unaccounted-for  security  votes;  those who deploy the paraphernalia of office in their selfish interests rather than in the  service  of  the  people;  those  who  connive  with  zonal political  oligarchs  to personalise  and privatise  the  state; those who deploy the  force  of state  to  quell  dissent; those  who paralyse  local governance   structures   in   such   a   manner   that   discredits   genuine arguments for restructuring and devolution of powers; those who give critics  an  excuse  to postulate  that if  state  governments  are  already abusing the little power they currently wield. These power-drunk state officials are the true enemies of Nigeria, he maintained. Yes, he is right.

At  the  zonal  level,  the  said enemies  of  Nigeria  are  those  who  have perverted  their  influence  and turned  the  states  within  their  zones of influence into  personal  estates.  For him, they  are  the  political  puppeteers,  who rig  the  system  to  enthrone  their  stooges  and  use  them  to  corner resources and opportunities. They are the political bandits and pseudo-democrats, who are maniacalin and merchandising the will of the people, from masterminding vote-buying to engineering seemingly spontaneous outbreaks of political violence.   These   are   the   true enemies of Nigeria. At the federal level, the true enemies of Nigeria are in every arm of government. In the judiciary, they are the judges, who pervert justice and auction judgments to the highest bidder. Agreed.

Speaking further, the cleric disclosed that in  the  legislature,  the enemies of Nigeria are   those legislators that 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 in a bid to protect their political careers. These are  the  true  enemies that  we  must stand  up  against, not  the angry young fellow, who throws salvos at Mr. President hoping to get a few retweets, not the journalist who stares the government squarely in  the  face, and  certainly not the  dissenting  voice  in  the  midst  of sycophants. Yes, I also agree with Bakare.

I concur with the man of God when he said providing  strong leadership  means  determining  the  most  pertinent objectives of  nation-building and,  like  a  laser  beam,  converging  all the  energies  of state onto those  critical  areas. It is also true that strong leadership means accepting dissent voices and listening to contrary views while making decisions in the best interest of the Nigerian people, and that to cultivate  strong  leadership,  the  leader  must surround   himself   or   herself   with   the   best,   brightest   and   most competent, particularly those  who  are more  intelligent than  oneself.

Perhaps, Bakare’s most salient point was the highlighting of the need for strong institutions. I reasoned with him that the focal objective in these last three years of the Buhari administration should be to strengthen institutions such as the judiciary by the   adherence   to rule   of   law, human rights,   and   respect   for   court judgments. Certainly, those who desecrate the courts must be brought to book to restore the sanctity and independence of the judiciary. It is trite that we must also strengthen    institutions of accountability by enforcing transparency in government revenue and expenditure.

It is in view of the above that, the Nigerian state must strengthen institutions of human development by laying the groundwork for effective education and healthcare policies. Not only that, we must strengthen institutions of economic growth through geo-economic re-organisation 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  trans-generational  and  gender  gaps to  ensure that the baton of success is passed on from one generation to another. This is the right way to go.

Bakare appears to have contradicted himself when he said, “Finally, as  the  government of  President  Muhammadu  Buhari ushers us  into  the  second  decade  of  the  21st century,  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. Therefore,  even  as  we  build  institutions  of  democratic  governance,  a key responsibility that history has bestowed on President Muhammadu Buhari  at  this  turning  point  in  our  journey  to  nationhood  is  to institutionalise  systems  of  accurate  succession”.

I completely disagree with Bakare on this critical recommendation. The examples he used such as Deng Xiaoping, a second-generation Chinese leader, who laid the foundation for today’s China; South African Nelson  Mandela,  who  stepped  aside  after one  term, but  not  without  positioning  the  likes  of  Thabo  Mbeki,  and Cyril   Ramaphosa were bred in completely different socio-political milieu of stronger institutions unlike our highly neo-patrimonial society. The identified leaders also had their doses of stigma. Buhari should not anoint any leader for Nigerians. The people should be allowed to freely do so with strong electoral process that his administration should bequeath.

I completely reasoned with the pastor that “These  young  Nigerians, who  have  found  their  voices on  social  media  are  not  the  enemies  of Nigeria. They are the hope of our nation. They are simply expressing the character of our DNA and the virtues that gave 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  the  tool  in resisting colonial rule and fighting for our independence, just as they effectively  deployed  conventional  media such  as  newspapers to achieve these objectives”.

Concluding the discourse, it is when we have genuine strong state institutions that Nigeria can truly rise from our slumber at the turn of a new decade to become the architect of a new coalition that would facilitate the emergence of a New Nigeria.

Now  is  the  time  to  put  aside  religious,  zonal,  ethnic  and  other differences  and  to  speak  with  one  voice  against  the  enemies  of  our common patrimony. Yes. This is our collective aspiration. I also agree with Bakare on this in his 25-page treatise.

Kupoluyi writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), [email protected],@AdewaleKupoluyi