The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has emphasized the need for the northern and southern regions to work together to achieve a progressive country.
Bakare also urged Nigerians and the political class to build on the legacies of the late President Muhammadu Buhari and the late Awujale of Ijebu-Ode, Oba Sikiru Adetona.
The cleric spoke in his church on Sunday in Lagos, during a service held in honour of the late duo of Buhari and Oba Adetona.
Buhari and Adetona, who were long-time friends, died on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
While Buhari died in a London hospital at the age of 82, Adetona passed on in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, at the age of 91.
Speaking under the theme “A Major Shift in the National Landscape,” Bakare, a politician and cleric, said Buhari and Adetona bequeathed to Nigerians a nation with its promises, prospects, possibilities, problems and paradoxes.
He said the passing of the duo on the same day called Nigerians to a deep reflection on how to build a progressive nation, particularly on the legacies of the late leaders.
Bakare stressed, “This is why the passing of these two men on the same day calls every Nigerian, especially the current political class, to deep reflection. President Buhari and Oba Sikiru Adetona have each played their parts and bowed out of the stage. They have bequeathed to us a nation with its promises, prospects, possibilities, problems, and paradoxes.
“Now is not the time to blame past leaders for what they did or failed to do. Now is the time to reflect on our nationhood and recommit ourselves to building the Nigeria that these men wished had emerged in their lifetime. Now is the time for Nigerians across the North and South to lock hands in the cords of unity and to build a great nation.
“The fact that Nigerian leaders, across political divides,
came together in unity to honour the late president is an indication
that this is possible. With the passing of these elder statesmen, now is
the time to build upon their foundations, a Nigeria that works for every Nigerian.”
He likened Buhari’s influence to the legacy of late elder statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, saying both of them, at each point in their lives, held a political sway in the northern and southern parts of Nigeria, respectively.
“In their respective ways, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and President Muhammadu Buhari, each represented the progressive wing of Nigeria’s sociopolitical landscape,” Bakare said.
He said the late President and the late monarch were both pivotal to the formation of the All Progressives Congress.
“Had Buhari washed his hands off Nigeria as he came close to doing after his experience with the 2011 elections, there would have been no APC. Had the Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona, not accepted the challenge to mediate the talks, perhaps, Nigeria would have been a one-party state, trying to balance itself on one leg,” he added.
The cleric spoke about the political influence of Buhari in the North, emphasising that what is crucial at this point is not how to retain the late President’s electoral value, but his legacy that produced such influence.
He said, “I want to come to terms with the 12 million votes that Buhari always commanded in every election, either to focus on those votes or the values that produced them.
“I’ve heard it asked on various fora, ‘Who will now inherit President Muhammadu Buhari’s 12 million votes?’ I do not think that’s the right question that this moment calls for. The right question to ask is, ‘What were those values that produced the man who consistently attracted those 12 million votes and even more? What were those values that stood the man out and made him a colossus among his peers? What attributes made the man Buhari a hero of the poor and a symbol of hope to the downtrodden?’
“Rather than skip the process and jump to the product, these are the questions that must be asked amid the politicking already taking place among the political class, the ruling party, and the opposition alike.”
The cleric said, “President Muhammadu Buhari and Oba Sikiru Adetona left a legacy that read loud and clear, ‘the giant of Africa cannot stand on one leg’.”
He admonished further, “We cannot build Nigeria as a one-party state. The intersection of these two men played a critical role in the emergence of a virile political landscape with a strong enough opposition party to challenge the then-ruling party.
“We can only build on their legacy by ensuring that both the ruling party and the opposition are strong enough to guarantee good governance in the interest of the ordinary Nigerian.
“Their legacy also reminds us that we cannot stabilise our beloved nation on divisiveness. We cannot build a truly virile nation unless we build an inclusive nation. Where we have been divided as a nation, let us remember the religious tolerance of a man who, for years, was wrongly labelled with the toga of religious fundamentalism when indeed, he was one of the most tolerant and fair-minded Muslims to walk this earth, twice opening the doorway for Christian leaders – pastors to be specific – in politics and governance.”
The Punch
