President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday hosted Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, in a closed-door meeting in Lagos.
The meeting centred on national development and Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Bakare offered insights into his private conversation with the President, while choosing to keep much of the discussion confidential.
“Well, it’s not about just reservations. It’s about how the country will go well,” he said. “My life, personal vision, is to see a nation that walks in my lifetime. And those things I’ve discussed with Mr. President. They’re not hidden things, but I’ve learned that when you discuss with the person in charge, you leave it with him to do whatsoever he wills with what you have suggested. So I’ve had a private conversation with Mr. President, and I’m glad that he received me well. And I trust that God will help our nation.”
When pressed on the specific issues he raised during the meeting, the fiery preacher declined to offer details.
“I’ve just told you, what transpired in my discussion with him stays with me and with him,” he said. “God guiding him and giving him wisdom will help this nation not to slide or go down the drain, but to bounce back so that it can leave a mark that cannot be erased.”
The meeting comes weeks after Pastor Bakare publicly criticized the federal government’s handling of the country’s worsening insecurity and economic downturn.
In a sermon delivered in April at his Lagos-based church, the cleric issued a strong call for urgent national reforms, warning of the dire consequences of governmental inaction.
He had urged President Tinubu to embrace wise counsel and to “stop playing God,” warning that failure to act decisively could push Nigeria toward an irreversible collapse.
