"Why I endorse Buhari/Osinbajo ticket’’ - Pastor Sunday Adelaja (Part 6)

Reasons why I cannot support Jonathan/sambo ticket.

This is the sixth and final part of Pastor Sunday Adelaja's explanations for throwing his weight behind the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket. You can read the previous posts here, here, here, here and here

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’

Probably a more urgent reason why I feel this sixth part of the article is important is because of all the sentiments, bigotry and prejudice that I see from the side of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters.
I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulder to destroy the mountain of ignorance and darkness that I see emanating from the Christian community. I’m amazed and alarmed that Christians who are supposed to be having the mind of Christ, the wisdom of God and the analytical faculty to digest any complex situation are outrightly refusing to use their minds or their intellect for that matter.

I agree that we all have our choices to make and every one of us has his or her own reasons why we make one decision or the other- but there must be reasons, there must be arguments, there must be facts and these facts and reasons must be credible. However, sadly from the Christian reactions that I have seen so far, excuse me for my use of words but it’s like we are hypnotised, brainwashed or just outrightly biased. Too much of emotions and clichés but too little substance.

To buttress my arguments I want to state the reasons why I cannot endorse the Jonathan/Sambo ticket below, with every point backed up with facts and evidences.

1) I believe God chose President Jonathan for a reason and I also believe that his time span is over. Just like God chose Saul; he had his time, but God also chose David to take over from him. I personally think that President Jonathan has had his time to prove his worth in the last six years. What he could not do in six years I doubt that he will be able to do in the next four.

• Five trillion naira is the summation of government funds said to have been stolen, according to: Mallam Nuhu Ribadu led Petroleum Task Force report, the Minister of Trade and Investment’s report on stolen crude, the House of Representatives fuel subsidy report and investigations into the ecological fund, SIM card registration and frequency band spectrum sale.

• The Nuhu Ribadu report on the oil and gas sector put daily crude oil theft at a high 250,000 barrels daily at a cost of $6.3bn (N1.2trn) a year. This puts the total amount lost through oil theft in two years of Jonathan’s government at over $12.6bn (N2trn).

2) In October 2012, the African Insurance Organisation ranked Nigeria as the “Kidnap-for-Ransom Capital of the World,” accounting for 25 per cent of global kidnappings.
The President admitted that there are sponsors of Boko Haram in his government. If that is the case why don’t you bring them to book? Why can’t you catch them? Why can’t you prosecute them? Are you not the president?
A president that will admit such a thing and yet do nothing about it should not be occupying that sit.
President Jonathan alleged that the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, had infiltrated his government. He claimed some members of the group, which had claimed responsibility for the killings in parts of the North, were in the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government as well as the police and armed forces. http://www.punchng.com/…/boko-haram-has-infiltrated-my-gov…/

3) Recently the respected global audit financial advisory firm KPMG rated Nigeria as the most fraudulent country in Africa. The firm also said that Nigeria’s fraud profile has been compounded by fraud and corruption in the oil sector, with “bribes in the private and public sector, misappropriation, and contract inflation” as common forms of fraud.

Nigeria is regarded as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. This should be no news, but what is however news, is the response of our Nation’s Commander-in-Chief, President Goodluck Jonathan. He said “There is no corruption but mere stealing in Nigeria” during one of his last Presidential Media Chats. This statement is not only alarming, but it is upsetting and disquieting. It is simply terrifying. A man who is saying stealing is not corruption has nothing to do in government especially being the president of a nation.
http://www.naij.com/60572-66357.html

4) If some respected individuals who fought for President Jonathan to take over from Yar’ Adua are now leading the campaign for him to step down even though they were his staunch supporters yesterday, that tells me that we must read in between the lines.

• Pastor Tunde Bakare led the “Save Nigeria Group” to campaign for the installment of President Jonathan in place of the ailing president Yar’ Adua. Today Pastor Tunde Bakare is one of the most passionate people calling for a change in the Nigerian government.

• It was after the popular outburst of President Obasanjo against the Yar’ Adua’s cabal that a real change took place and President Jonathan was installed. Today however, President Obasanjo is leading the call for President Jonathan not to run for another term.

• Gov. Rotimi Ameachi and an array of other famous individuals of integrity who once supported President Jonathan are now leading the call for his resignation.

• One other person is Oby Ezekwesili, an exceptionally gifted Nigerian woman. I know she supported President Jonathan to replace President Yar’Adua, but she is now leading the protest against President Jonathan’s government through the organisation, ‘Bring Back Our Girls’. That should tell any thoughtful person something.

• I know these people are being accused of having ulterior motives. I think the truth is that they simply love Nigeria more than they love President Jonathan. They all have the opportunity to go the easy way and sell their allegiance, but they have refused to compromise at the price of personal loss. If these people who have access to inside information about President Jonathan and his regime more than an average Nigeria are saying he must go, let’s think twice.

5) Leading countries of the world are appalled by the level of corruption in President Jonathan’s government and if they are not afraid to voice out their concerns about Nigeria, why should we be silent? Normally nations are careful to voice their opinion on matters of other sovereign countries.
Things have gotten so bad that countries that were willing to come to our aid to help fight Boko haram and bring back our girls are now leaving, getting frustrated and saying there is nothing they can do as far as this government is in power.
Former United States’ Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in a public interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, lambasted President Jonathans’ government, in her words, “They have squandered their oil wealth, they have allowed corruption to fester and now they are losing control of parts of their territory because they wouldn’t make hard choices”

6) On a personal note, I have reasons to have pledged my allegiance to President Jonathan like many other Christian leaders.
First of all he was kind enough to receive me at Aso rock Presidential Villa.
Secondly his government gave the opportunity to serve to another sound, unique and exceptional Nigerian who happens to be my Premier disciple, Prof Vincent Anigbogu.
He has had exclusive privilege and opportunity to be invited to be minister and serve President Jonathan on several occasions. At least for the sake of friendship, it would have been easier for me to keep quiet. However like I said earlier, ‘Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is the truth’- Isaac newton. In my words, ‘Jonathan is my president, Goodluck is a Christian but Nigeria is my greatest love’.
Nigeria is at the verge of a complete destruction and collapse. So I must raise my voice, despite the inconveniences this might be to me personally. I’m doing this as an example to the next generation for them to know how to stand up for the truth, regardless of who is involved Christians, Muslims or whoever. The truth is worth defending without bias and bigotry.

7) It is my belief that things would have been worse under the Jonathan’s Presidency, but for some exceptional leaders and ministers he was able to bring to his team.
People like the:
Prof. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala Minister of Finance,
Akinwumi Adesina Minister of Agriculture,
Olusegun Aganga Minister of Trade and Investment
Prof. Chinedu O. Nebo the Minister of Power.

These are the few that I either know personally or of whom I have received the highest commendation. I pray that when the next government in Nigeria emerges, they will have the wisdom to include all the best Nigerians from past regimes. Especially these individuals who have proven over the years that they are some of the best professionals that this country has ever produced.
But despite how good these men are, they all needed a commander–in-chief that is strong enough to give them a better leadership. I don’t believe President Jonathan is strong enough to provide that leadership.

8) Everything rises and falls on leadership.
A president must be able to provide leadership. Even with the best of men, if the man at the top is not strong much would not be accomplished. Some of the best performing government officials in our recent past that I had the opportunity to listen to all credited their success in government to one factor- their leader.
Most Nigerians are grateful to the late Professor Dora Akunyili. She personally told me that she would not have achieved all she achieved in government without the backing of the then President.
At a meeting with the finance Minister (Hon. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala) as I was thanking her for eradicating our debt burden and all other land mark achievements during her tenure in the Nigerian government. She was quick to note that it was due to the fact that she had a strong commander - in - Chief in the person of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
I heard Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai say the same thing. The same notion was echoed by Nuhu Ribadu.
The point I am making is everything rises and falls on good or bad leadership – Nigeria deserves a more qualified leader.

9) The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIC) declared that Nigeria is the worst country for anyone to be born in in 2013.
Nigeria ranked 80 among the 80 countries accessed.
A president that cannot demand for accountability and efficiency despite all the wealth generated in the land is not fit to rule.

10) President Jonathan’s government justifies the sum of about N1 trillion spent on security, despite the growing insecurity situation in the country. Yet, the military and security officials are still considered ill-equipped to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.
Despite all manner of sporadic bombings in the country by Boko Haram our president maintains that the federal government is winning the war on terror, that Nigeria is safe for living.
A man who goes out to say all is well when things are falling apart around him can be said to be oblivious and ignorant of the plight and sufferings of people he swore to protect and serve. Moreover, as thousands of Nigerian families are going for the funerals of their loved ones, our president is busy moving from one party/ceremony to the other.

11) According to the BBC on the 29th January 2014:
5 former governors of PDP
16 senators
49 representatives
defected to APC.

That is an alarm for those who can afford to listen that there is a problem in the PDP camp. To me it means it’s time for a change of guard.
I don’t buy into the argument that all these people are bad or have their own ulterior motives.

12) I was in Lagos and I saw the transformation that Gov. Fashola has brought to that state. Despite the fact that he is a Muslim, he was able to perform better than most Christian governors of other states.
Initially, there were people who were also against him because he was a Muslim, but his track record has proven that it is not religion that determines good leadership, but the individual qualities of the man.
I had the opportunity of meeting Gov. Fashola personally and I can tell you that He is a new breed of leaders; sound, intelligent, analytical, progressive and effective. By the way he was in the same team with Prof Osinbajo for 8 years in the Lagos state government under the leadership of Gov. Tinubu. What I am trying to say is if such a man is saying that the Jonathan government is a failure, I listen. I hope Nigerians listen too.

Let’s hear what governor Fashola has to say about President Jonathan. These are not just the words of an opposition politician but they are words that ring a bell in the heads of most Nigerians. “Now what is on the other side (PDP), because I spent about an hour listening to the president in my state? For almost the same period, I saw a very angry president. I saw a president who is lamenting about people judging his performance and blaming all those who ruled before him, forgetting that he has been on this job for six years’’
“And he kept saying ‘they say we don’t have a plan’ and for almost 45 minutes he did not reveal a plan on security, he did not reveal a plan on corruption. I listened to him. Now after six years without being able to articulate what he has done and what he will do, but blaming everybody and forgetting that he is the Commander-in-Chief. If the kitchen is becoming too hot as it’s becoming obvious he must get out of it’’
If Governors like Adams Oshiomole, Rochas Okorocha, Rauf Aregbesola, who have proven their quality by their results are all saying Nigeria needs a different leadership I think it is wise to listen. Their party membership not withstanding.

13) There is a popular misconception that Gen. Buhari promised to make Nigeria ungovernable if he didn’t win the 2011 elections against President Jonathan but that has been found to be completely false.
• Major General Muhammadu Buhari never said he will make Nigeria ungovernable in 2011 in any format.
• It was a PDP politician, Alhaji Lawal Kaita who actually said Nigeria would be ungovernable if Jonathan became president in 2011.
• It was Jonathan’s media spokesman, Reuben Abati who sat down and largely concocted the slanderous libel against Gen. Buhari in April 2011.
• General Muhammadu Buhari took Reuben Abati to court for damaging his name.
• The Jonathan Presidency begged Gen. Buhari to settle the case with Reuben Abati and the Guardian Newspaper out of court.
• General Buhari obliged and settled out of court.
• Reuben Abati with The Guardian Newspaper published an unreserved apology to Gen. Buhari in the Guardian of 11th July, 2013.
It is based on falsehood so I will not support a re-election bid that is grounded on lies and deception of the electorate.
https://drbiggie.wordpress.com/…/did-buhari-ever-say-he-wi…/

14) Gen. Buhari has a credible leadership track record and has won awards to that effect. He is known among his people as ‘Mai Gaskiya’ interpreted in English as ‘Person of truth or integrity’. No act of corruption has been traced to his previous tenure in any governmental position.

• Gen. Buhari presently has 2 houses, one owned by his father and one he built with his pension
• He has no house or land in Abuja
• No property or savings abroad
• He has 2 cars (one belongs to his wife)
• He has no oil wells, no petrol station.
• His monetary assets was 6.5 million naira which now remains 1million naira after he paid 5.5 million naira for his presidential nomination form (compared to 750 million declared by GEJ)
• Gen. Buhari and Nelson Mandela were the only private African individuals invited to the white house during president Barrack Obama’s Inauguration why? Because they are men of integrity.
• Above all, he is not associated with corruption of any form or sort.

• His administration initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War against Indiscipline (WAI)" when he realized the civilian government he took over from as head of states was HOPELESSLY CORRUPT. The campaign is still lauded by many to have instilled the most orderly conduct of public and private affairs in Nigeria since its independence in 1960.
• In his time as head of state he reduced inflation from 23% to 4%, by fiscal discipline and a homegrown economic team (not achieved under any other era both civilian and military).
• He supervised and birthed our only existing refineries (1976-1978)
• What he did in road construction while in the PTF hasn't been matched in 16 years of democracy.
• The hospitals and universities around the country never witnessed as much benefits as they got from the PTF than any other government after or before his time.
• The Gen. Buhari regime rebuffed all entreaties by IMF and World Bank to devalue the naira, remove subsidies on services and increase pump price on fuel.
• The Nigerian Naira was exchanged between 0.724 -0.894 to 1 Us Dollar during Gen. Buhari's regime (1983-1985). Imagine our Naira was more than the dollar just 29 years ago when I left the country to study in Europe.
Unfortunately, because there is so much conflicting information in the media in Nigeria, sometimes it takes somebody like myself who lives outside the country to see the true picture of things. I have a feeling that some of the facts that I am referring to in these articles might not be known by the majority of my fellow countrymen. I hope they are of help to some of you.

MY CLOSING REMARKS
This is the last of my six part article on why I endorse the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket. I want to use this opportunity to say thank you to everyone that has taken his or her time to go through all or parts of these articles. I also want to thank those who expressed their opinions either for or against. This is what freedom of expression and democracy is all about. More so, the ‘love of truth’ compels us to express our true feelings without hypocrisy and double standards. Our God is a God of truth -so truth must be encouraged not just among the populous, but especially from the pulpit.

1Timothy 3:15 ‘’ … which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth’’
The church should stand for the truth, propagate the truth, establish the truth and up hold the society with the power of truth.

1) One of the most important concerns of the people writing comments on my article is the declaration or the intention of the fundamentalists to Islamise Nigeria.

I don’t know why my fellow Christians should be afraid of that. The Muslims have the right to declare their own intentions as much as we have the right to declare ours. I would rather say kudos to the Muslims for organising themselves with an agenda even though that agenda could be evil, but they must be commended for having a plan, a goal and an organization to implement it. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuja_Declaration_ (1989)

My thinking is that we the body of Christ should take it as a challenge. It is a wakeup call to the church in Nigeria, to wake up from slumber. It is a call for us to unite as well, structure ourselves and work out a master plan to Christianise Nigeria. I don’t know about you but I want the whole of Nigeria to be Christianised. I want the whole world to be Christianised. That is why I am a Christian preacher, so I also have an agenda.

Every church in the world must have that same agenda, to turn the whole world to Christianity. We should not be afraid, if the Muslims want to do the same thing. Let them do it fairly without hatred, violence, and war. Same thing goes to the Christians. So instead of us connecting the Abuja declaration to Gen. Buhari’s election under APC, we should rather channel our energy to organising ourselves and putting our acts together.
I sincerely think it is cheap to use that kind of argument as the reason why Gen. Buhari should not be supported by Christians.

2) Another recurrent argument I hear from my Christian critics is that I should be aware of the fact that the nation of Turkey used to be a Christian nation and the same thing could happen to Nigeria.
http://www.turizm.net/turkey/info/religion.html
This argument is in the same category as the first one. I live in a country that is an hour flight from Turkey, so I know the history quite well. But why should we put the responsibility of Nigeria not becoming a Muslim nation on the Muslims? I thought we should put it on the Christian church. We are the ones to make sure that our country is not Islamised. At the end of the day the church decides, not APC nor Gen. Buhari or any political party whatsoever. We should only be worried about the outside enemy if our house is divided within itself.

Mark 3:24 -‘’If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.’’

If we are solid as a church we don’t need to fear outside enemies. I think we should rather direct the effort we are using to fight the Muslims to develop ourselves, get the church ready and healthy. If we focus so much on the outward enemy we will not notice when and how decadence penetrates into the midst of the church.
Mathew 11:15 – ‘’Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

3) Some Christians say that we Christians don’t go about killing people to convert them to our own religion like the Muslims do. Maybe this is true, but that kind of attitude starts from what I witness after each one of my articles this week. Killing of people starts from sentiments, bigotry, lack of tolerance and objectivity. When we are biased, prejudiced, lack the patience to consider the opinions of others, then we are not walking in love same as the Muslim fundamentalists. I am afraid that if we also continue with lack of tolerance towards others we might soon be killing people maybe not physically but at least in our attitudes.
1John 3:15 - Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

For us not to become murderers we must learn to be tolerant. By so doing we can strip the sword out of the hands of the radical Islamic fundamentalists. Love overcomes, Love wins, We win. If we would be tolerant of our opponents, if we would try our best to understand them, we shall reap what we sow. they too will equally begin to respond to us in love and tolerance.
Matthew 5: 43-46 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

MAY GOD HELP US
MAY GOD HELP NIGERIA
MAY GOD HELP THE CHURCH!

4) For those who chose to rather insult me instead of bringing out their reasons and arguments, I say the young shall grow.
When people are void of reasons they result to abuses and insults. I pray that our society will grow up, not just spiritually but mentally and intellectually as well. Only then will the authority of truth, facts and statistics play a greater role in our society than the power of emotions and shouts.

5) For those who say they are disappointed at me delving into Nigeria’s political landscape, well I welcome your opinion. But you must also recognise the fact that just like you I have the right to an opinion as well. So if you as a believer or pastor feel that a minister should not talk about politics, it is your opinion, your choice - good for you! But if I happen to have an opposite opinion to yours, it is honourary for you to recognise that I too have the right to my own opinion.

‘’The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’’ - Edmund Burke

My actions are based on my own understanding of life and the scriptures - Old and New Testaments. I am only doing what I believe to be scripturally right. The fact that others don’t do it underlines the importance of diversity in life. Our God is a God of diversity. That is why we have people of different heights, sizes, colors. Even the disciples of Jesus Christ who listened to the gospel from his mouth still understood the same message differently, hence the four different gospels, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) everyone with their unique understanding of the same event. Even though the gospels were not all written by immediate disciples of Jesus the point still remains the same. I believe that God intentionally put all the four gospels in the bible so as to teach us to accommodate each other’s diverse views and opinions. Some of us would have simply taken one account of the gospel and condemn the three others, but not God. GOD IS A TOLERANT GOD. He is tolerant to everything but sin. So dear brothers and sisters let us learn to be tolerant of each other even if we don’t belong to the same culture, party or religion.
I think the life experience of the German protestant pastor Martin Niemoller would best explain to my critics my position on political matters:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

I hope my speaking up at this critical hour in our nation’s history would play a significant role in deciding the destiny of our beloved country. I know I have probably lost a lot of friends, because I have been receiving so many messages and letters to that effect.

Isaiah 62:1 - For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.
What more can I say?
In the words of the great protestant reformer Dr. Martin Luther
‘’Unless I am convinced by proofs from scriptures or by plain or clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand I can do no other. God help me. Amen!

GOD BLESS NIGERIA
GOD BLESS MY BELOVED NATION
GOD BLESS MY FATHERLAND
GOD BLESS NIGERIA THE LAND OF GOOD PEOPLE GREAT NATION
LONG LIVE THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

CONCLUDED

*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.