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| Pastor Tunde Bakare |
According to Bakare, there were reports of suicide bombings and Boko Haram hoisting flags in the territories and local governments areas they captured during the past administration, but we no longer hear such under Buhari’s leadership.
He also said that President Buhari has diversified the nation’s economy which was depending on oil revenue.
His words, "If you have driven into the woods, into the jungle and you have gone into the wrong direction for 16 years and you want to fix it back in five years, no! When a tree falls on a tree, you start removing the one at the top. I think he is doing his honest best. This thing did not start yesterday and it cannot be fixed overnight. But we must see evidence of getting solutions to our problems instead of compounding the problems.
"He indicated before he came in that he would fight corruption to a standstill and he would diversify the economy and then, he would deal with the problem of insecurity. The problem of insecurity existed before he came. At a point in time, Boko Haram was holding unto some local governments in this nation that were under their grip. But that is no longer.
"That has been broken. They now use some other tactics and strategies like suicide bombers, attacking the vulnerable. The usual combat ready, grabbing territories, putting their flags on, that has been dealt with. It is not over yet and they should not rest on their oars. My considered opinion is that some people, whether within the military or the civil society are benefitting from this because Boko Haram cannot survive if they don’t have human collaborators.
"They are eating food, who is supplying the food? What market are they buying from? They are having ammunition, where are they getting it from? And I have said it before and I am saying it again, this lockdown, they should ask everybody to stay home for seven days and say it is compulsory and then turn fire on Sambisa forest or wherever they are and rout them out. It is a shame that foreign countries will be entering our territory to checkmate Boko Haram. That is one.
"Government is a continuum. As far as corruption is concerned, you will see that a lot of what was happening with the funds of ministries that were not returned, all that has been checkmated beginning from the time that President Jonathan set it up and now, it has been formally entrenched that you have to return what is in your ministry. It is not over until we win.
"It is not over until it is over. He is doing his best and government is a continuum. The responsibility of preachers like me and pastors and Christians is to pray for men in authority. They inherited onerous problems and little by little, that will give us solutions to those problems.
When asked if his assessment reflect the minds of majority of Nigerians and he will not be accused of being biased he said:
"Those in government, are they foreigners? Are they not Nigerians? Are Nigerians not the ones patronising them if you say there is corruption? Can a ministry, permanent secretary steal just all the money there without awarding contract? Are the contractors not collaborators? They are blaming about less than one per cent of the population of Nigerians called government.
"I am not saying the government has done everything well, I am not saying they have fulfilled all their promises. I am saying look, let us look within together. If the citizens say no to a thing, there is no way it will continue.
"If your uncle now becomes a local government chairman and he dedicates three houses in four years, you will be among those who will be congratulating him and you will be there to cover him and put it on the front page of the The Sun Newspaper. Do you celebrate villains or do you celebrate heroes? I am not saying this is a perfect government. We are not where we have wanted to be.