By Tunde Odesola
(Published in The PUNCH, Monday, March 12, 2018)
God loves constituted authority. Clearly, He said so in Romans 13, chapters: 1-2, “All of you must obey those who rule over you. There are no authorities except the ones God has chosen. Those who now rule have been chosen by God. So, whoever opposes the authorities, opposes leaders whom God has appointed. Those who do that will be judged.”
Does Pastor Tunde Bakare still read his bible? His ungodly attack over President Muhammadu Buhari’s attendance of the talk-of-the-town wedding in Kano leaves so much in doubt about the sincerity of his criticism of the General of Daura. Has the lawyer-pastor, whom himself had a grand marriage for one of his children, forgotten the exhortation in Romans 12:15, saying, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn?” As a true Muslim, I’m sure President Buhari attended the watershed wedding in Kano bearing in mind the words of the great Prophet Muhammad (Salallahu Alaehi Wasala). In chapter 31:14 and chapter 47:16 of the Holy Quran, the prophet enjoined Muslims to rejoice with those rejoicing. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also said in the Hadith, “Eito alda’awata eza dueitom. Eza dueya ahadokom ela al-walimata falyateha.” So, what’s wrong in President Buhari leading a formidable brood of estranged bedfellows to Kano to strategize, backslap and unwind ahead of the battle in 2019? With his level of education, I expect Pastor Bakare to know that stress is a leading killer in any gerontocracy.
Even if the posh Kano marriage was a statement by the All Progressives Congress to show that Buhari has the North in his grip, what’s wrong with that? Are the lives of a mere 110 unknown girls worthier than the lives of 180m Nigerians which stand at grave risk should the rascal Peoples Democracy Party snatch power in 2019? Nigerians can see the lofty reasons for the political convention disguised as a marriage ceremony in Kano. If Pastor Bakare still has a bible, he should open it to Matthew 26:41; it says, “Watch and pray…” The Kano wedding was a good opportunity to watch and prey!
As a former running mate of Baba Yusuf with unhindered access to Ass-o-Rock, I wonder why the Ogun State-born cleric is crying more than the parents and guardians of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped about four weeks ago in Dapchi, Yobe State. Why Baba Bunmi decided to showboat on a serious national issue such as terrorism in front of the members of his church beats me hollow. Was that the first time Boko Haram terrorists would kidnap schoolchildren in Nigeria? Will that be the last? If my namesake thinks the weight of state duty is keeping President Buhari so busy that he couldn’t get his attention, why didn’t he seek audience with his fellow pastor and Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo? The more I think of Bakare’s heresy against Buhari, the more I think of the word ‘retroactive’, Decree 20 of 1984, Bartholomew Owoh (26), Lawal Ojuolape (30) and Bernard Ogedengbe (29). Please, tell me, with what can this Bakare hate speech be punished other than death? Pastor Bakare mistakenly craves excellence in man, forgetting that only God is excellent. I’ve heard him sing a number of times the melodious Christian song, “The Most Excellency is Jesus, Shout Haleluya, Amen.” Why was he then seeking excellence among leaders who turned the blind eye when herdsmen and terrorists sowed sorrow, tears and blood across the land?
Why should Bakare commit religious hara-kiri when there has been no outrage from Nigerians? He should grab his bible and read Matthew 11:12, which says ‘…the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and it is the violent that takes it by force’. Are Nigerians ready to fight for their rights? Pastor Lagbaja, has anything changed after your outburst?
Baba Segun, what’s wrong in President Buhari leading the Jagaban of Borgu, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu himself; Senate President and Medical Doctor Bukola Saraki; 22 All Progressives Congress governors; National Assembly members, ministers, state legislators, ambassadors, chief executives of government agencies, chairmen of councils, Army, Navy, Air Force, Police chiefs, contractors, concubines, marabouts, herdsmen, etc to the wedding between the daughter of Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and the son of Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, a few days after 110 schoolgirls were swept away into captivity? Pastor Know-all, doesn’t your bible say, ‘let the dead bury the dead’? I certainly don’t have an answer to why you and other eminent people from Ogun State are the problems of this country. Fela would abuse everybody. Awo would be propounding political theories. MKO won’t relinquish a common mandate. Tai Solarin would be wearing khaki like Castro. Soyinka would be blowing big, big grammar while Obasanjo would be doing as if he owns Nigeria. Haba! Kilode? And you would be jumping up and down the pulpit, preaching about justice. If you know that you want to fight for justice, why did you abandon law? I’m not sure you won’t join the PDP before 2019, but I bet you; the rain that is coming would be too strong for a perforated umbrella.
Let me tell you something, Mr pastor. God is never ambiguous. He made an unmistakable point about the centrality of marriage to the existence and sustenance of the society by directing his son, Jesus Christ, to perform his very first miracle at a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Why then do you begrudge our president for attending the Kano of Galilee wedding? Like Cana, like Kano? In Cana, Jesus rose to the occasion of wine scarcity, providing the masses with finest wine. Unheeding the unending national outcry of fuel scarcity, President Buhari, in Kano, rose to the call of the elite Pharisees and Sadducees, who shouted ‘Rankadede! Hosanna! Sai Baba!’, despite the killing of innocent citizens in Benue, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Plateau, Taraba, etc. The miracle at the Cana wedding was to call man to redemption. The Kano of Galilee wedding was a roll call of powers and principalities seeking to protect their fiefdoms. The Cana wedding was a demonstration of sacrifice. The Kano of Galilee wedding was a glorification of insensitivity.
By the way, your name, Bakare, suggests you converted to Christianity from Islam, the religion of your forebears. I’ve seen enough to know that religious converts are as dangerous as Boko Haram and herdsmen. Nigerians are funny people; they’re telling the president to go and visit Dapchi, of all places. Don’t they know that the president last wore the Army uniform on August 27, 1985? Frail, fatigued, fragile, faulty and failure are a strong alliteration.
Your attitude made me remember the biblical Apostle Paul when he stood trial before Roman Emperor Festus, who thundered in Act 26:24, “Paul, you’re insane. Too much study has made you crazy.” Pastor Babatunde Gbolahan Bakare, too much turenchi is disturbing you! Instead of teaching your flock about salvation, you seek approval from man by playing to the gallery. Do you still have any fire in you?
Talking about fire; well, man has learnt to deal with fire from time immemorial. From the earliest archeological accounts, the discovery and control of fire by man laid the foundation of an enduring cultural perspective in human evolution as fire provided warmth, protection and improved hunting. Remarkably, the ability to control fire provided man with the opportunity to eat cooked food as opposed to the consumption of fruits, which was his lot millions of years before. With the consumption of cooked food, especially meat, primatologists believe that man began to develop larger and more convoluted brains, and with that came the ability to master the environment and engender discoveries.
Like the Early Man, many of those that thronged the Kano of Galilee wedding went in search of meat to further develop their brains towards finding lasting solutions to Boko Haram, herdsmen’s ascendency, fuel scarcity, insecurity, rising inflation and hopelessness, I believe.
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Pastor Bakare is very correct. They girls are not mare woo. Buhari and his men are shameless. It is for their pockets and families that they gathered to strategize. Shame on all of them that were partying at a time like that. Most of all. A big shame on you.