Bakare lashes out at CAN, says ‘it’s an appendage of govt’

Pastor and Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has lashed out at the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), saying the body has become nothing more than a political appendage of the government.

Speaking during the Sunday service in his church at Ogba area of Lagos State, the Fiery cleric questioned the moral judgment the leadership of CAN had to criticise and call the ex-Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nassir el-Rufai, a “bigot” over recent statements which, he claimed, did not originate from the former minister.


“It is rather unfortunate that CAN has chosen to confirm its description by the Catholic Church as an arm of the government in power, by fanning the propaganda of agents of the administration that el-Rufai is a bigot for a statement that did not originate from him and whose meaning should be clear to non-mischievous persons,” Pastor Bakare.

“This is nothing but feeding on mass neurosis and widening the gap between people of different faiths in the country. Is CAN saying the gentleman, who wrote the offending statement and happens to be a Christian is a bigot?” he queried.

Pastor Bakare also wondered why both the government and the leadership of CAN had not found suitable answers to a recent challenge thrown at the government by the former Minister of Education and Vice-President of the World Bank, Dr Oby Ezekwesili.

Bakare wondered why the government would rather choose to verbally assault Dr Ezekwesili through its various spokespersons, adding that “it is wrong to attack the messenger while ignoring the message.”

Speaking in the same vein, the lawyer-turned pastor and convener of the Save Nigeria Group likened the situation in Nigeria to that of a house with a leaking roof, which needed corrective measures to prevent it from total collapse.

He therefore opined that one major way for Nigeria to be saved from total collapse was for the country to be given the “Ghanaian treatment.”

Commenting on the proposed merger between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with a view to wresting power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government, Bakare insisted that unless the merger was built with the genuine mind to save the nation, it would fail.