"Why I endorse Buhari/Osinbajo ticket’’ - Pastor Sunday Adelaja (Part 2)

This is the second part of Pastor Sunday Adelaja's explanations for throwing his weight behind the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket. You can find the first part here

My main reason for endorsing Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is because of my personal encounter with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ecclesiastics 10:16-17
16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
And your princes feast in the morning!
17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,
And your princes feast at the proper time—
For strength and not for drunkenness

‘Plato is my friend— Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is the truth’. Therefore I say ‘Jonathan is my president, Goodluck is a Christian, but Nigeria is my greatest love’

I have personally met President Jonathan on two occasions while he was the vice-president of the country. There is no doubt that President Jonathan is a good and gentle man from my observations, but a good man does not always translate to a good or efficient leader.

I have told everybody that cares to listen in my private conversations with my friends since 2007 that even though God must have given President Jonathan the chance to become Nigeria’s president, he is not capable. He would need a team of super-efficient leaders to make his government work, otherwise on his own he is simply not in the consciousness of what good governance is all about.

My first major concern during our meetings is that he was always in a ‘sleep mode’. I don’t think he is ever fully awake and this was my impression on both occasions. He was always looking lost, sleepy and even outrightly dozing off during conversations, at least during my meetings with him. Please bear in mind that in both cases I came with teams of leaders from different countries such as: USA, Sweden, Spain, Ukraine, Nigeria, yet my vice-president was listening to us half asleep.

Now friends, I am not such that would be quick to judge, so I tried to give him the benefit of a doubt. However, my subsequent observations of President Jonathan through videos and photographs of his meetings, confirm the obvious, that this man is never in the ‘here and now’.

If you compare my experience with President Jonathan to my meetings with President Olusegun Obasanjo. President Obasanjo wasn’t just awake, in the ‘here and now’. He was always at alert, sharp, responsive and more so, he would immediately pick up his phone calling ministers and assistants to act on the proposals and suggestions that we were bringing to the table.

President Jonathan in my opinion lacks decision making skills.
I brought in some proposals that could earn the nation of Nigeria and every state of the federation investments worth millions of US dollars yearly. I was expecting him to respond with action like President Obasanjo did, instead his response was passive, he suggested that I should go to the states and meet with the governors, which I had done, but the foreign philanthropists needed assurance from a top government official. But, here was my vice president not acting and not being proactive in any way. The foreigners who were with me had to leave Nigeria disappointed with the lack of interest and inactive position of the second citizen of the country.

I am sure some people will be reading this thinking I was offended and had some business interests. No! These were not business interests at all. These were projects concerning humanitarian aids for the poor, disabled and elderly. These were projects to help train our police force in values and integrity. These were projects to equip our states with technical schools and colleges. I had nothing really to gain from it whatsoever. They were supposed to be Christian donations to the people of Nigeria as a whole.

The point I am making is about the necessary skills and sharpness required of the leader of a nation to take decisive decisions. His ability to make things happen. We are talking about his ability to provide solutions.

These are things that make great leaders. More so, when you are the president of a nation you surely need these qualities.

To be continued tomorrow

*Pastor Sunday Adelaja is the founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of God, an evangelical-charismatic megachurch in Kiev, Ukraine, reputed to be the largest charismatic church in Eastern Europe.