A prominent Nigerian clergyman, Pastor Tunde Bakare has come on hard on President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government of Nigeria of “killing” ordinary Nigerians with bad policies since coming into office on May 29.
Bakare, the Senior Pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church, in a sermon on Sunday, lampooned the government on several fronts including the removal of fuel subsidy which has led to untold hardship for Nigerians, having triggered an economic crisis in the country.
Bakare said though he was not against the removal of the subsidy, he noted that the timing was not right. He said the president should have concentrated on “killing corruption in the system.”
The fiery televangelist noted that fuel subsidy removal and its harsh economic impact was taking a toll on Nigerians, urging Tinubu to “kill corruption and not Nigerians.”
“President Bola Tinubu should
mount a genuine fight against corruption, rise above vendetta, foster reconciliation, and give every Nigerian a reason to believe in a united country,” he said while speaking on the theme ‘’Vice, virtue and time: The three things that shall never stand still.’’
“What is further clear concerning our domestic challenges is that by imposing hardship on Nigerians without going after those corrupt individuals, corporations and government officials, who have plundered Nigeria over the years in the name of subsidy, the president has picked the wrong fight.
‘’In his Monday, July 31, 2023, address to the nation, the president stated that the vast sum of money which ‘would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security…was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals.
“The president further stated that the subsidy removal policy was to stop the squandering of monies on smugglers and fraudsters. This compels us to ask the following salient questions: Who are these select groups of individuals into whose deep pockets our national treasury has been funnelled?
‘’Who are these smugglers and fraudsters that have been defrauding our nation in the name of subsidy? Who are these nameless characters that have fed fat at the expense of the poor? Or are they all sacred cows?
‘’Mr President, if you are truly on the side of the poor, if you are serious about the welfare of the people, if you truly want the poor to breathe, as you once said, then kill corruption, not Nigerians,” he said.