I won’t come to Aso Rock – Tunde Bakare tells Presidency
Saturday, February 28, 2009
At a time when church leaders are hobnobbing with politicians and government officials, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Senior Pastor of Later Rain Assembly, has vowed to remain different and focused on the undiluted word of God.


Pastor Tunde Bakare









Last weekend when Nigerian seat of power, popularly called Aso Rock, rolled out the red carpet for church leaders across the length and breadth of the country, Bakare behaved like the biblical Daniel, who would not defile himself with the king’s portion.

He snubbed a presidential invitation personally sent by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, which would have made him to wine and dine with the seat of power. Instead of attending the Aso Rock bash, he chose to feed God’s flock in Lagos.

It was gathered that the invitation was about a breakfast Dr Jonathan convened for church leaders in the country to pray for good governance. When the date coincides with Bakare’s three-day preaching engagement at Satellite Town, Lagos, he did not give a second thought to the presidential fanfare but jettisoned it without regrets.

Those who went expectedly wined, dined interacted with the political powers-that-be and prayed for the nation for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the fiery Bakare was in Lagos teaching on “The Full Impact of Biblical Faith.”

Quoting copiously from Apostle Paul’s epistles to the churches, especially from the Book of I Thessalonians, he emphasized on the apostolic lifestyle, which makes the message compelling to its hearers.

The Lagos preaching afforded him the opportunity to illuminate on his prophetic utterances on the June 12, 1993 presidential election and his infamous arrest by the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian government.

Pastor Bakare said he was not arrested, but turned himself in on the Lord’s order. He disclosed that though there were pressures from friends to flee, God told him not to do so, to show him the quality of work, which he (Bakare) is doing.

On the June 12, 1993 election, Bakare said when his prophecy on the annulment was fulfilled, Chief Moshood Abiola wrote to him to hear what God had in store for him but he asked the late politician to seek God by himself.

True to type and as bold as ever, Bakare said that he is not seeking any glory from man, hence he was not interested in Nigeria’s national honours or taking photographs with the vice president. In fact, he labelled the national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) as Ole Ole Nigeria.

The pastor also took a swipe at pastors who have compromised their message for personal gains, insisting that the gospel of God should be spoken even in much conflict as it is stated in the Bible.

Below is Bakare rendered in verbatim narrative:

“In 1999, you would not buy me for a piece of loaf or a piece of bread. When I said, rejoice not yet O land, your joy will be temporary. They said why is he the only one talking? Pressmen came to me. They said there are too many pastors in Nigeria; why are you the only one being arrested? I said, wrong question. Right question is, why are others not being arrested? Because they have arrested all the apostles and kept them in prison. They tormented all the prophets because of what they carried. The others have complied.

They have blended in. What they are doing is status quo. They just are politically correct because they needed to take photographs with governors and they needed titles of CON and Grand Commander. If I were going to betray you, you would be the one encouraging me.

“Tonight, I’m supposed to be in Abuja to be in Aso Rock tomorrow morning at breakfast meeting with the vice president of Nigeria. I say, sir, I cannot come. There is a compelling job here in Satellite Town in Grace Estate. I’m coming here instead so that the people of God can be built. I don’t want to take photographs with vice president, who does not believe God. When does Aso Rock become Mount Zion? The same people who did not want me; now jaga jaga don burst; the thing is not holding. They now want to know what God is saying.

“In 1993, I stood on the platform of Latter Rain Assembly and said SDP would fail. NRC would lose and be cut and swallowed up. The military will fall. Verdict ’93, our God reigns. Everybody criticized me; chastised me. One of my sons in Australia said now that we had voted, I’m going to church to see what will happen to this man and they came to church June 13. I said I did not say you will not vote in the prophecy. If you will not vote, there will be no result, but this is your result. SDP will fail. NRC will lose, be cut off and swallowed up. The military will fall. Verdict ’93, our God reigns.

“By June 20th, the church was packed full. I said, thus saith the Lord, by Wednesday, the election will be cancelled. On Wednesday night, here comes IBB: ‘We are not only in government, we are still in power… Nullified’. MKO now wrote a letter to me. ‘Man of God, what is God saying?’ I replied to him, ‘ask him yourself.’ Listen to me, a time will come that you will have to defend the message you preach by your own life. Your lifestyle must make the message compelling. Those who criticize you now will come to join you.

“I remember when we went to Ghana and I received the report that they were waiting for me, to arrest me in Nigeria. Security men sent message to me in Ghana. Our men working in our system said, ‘pastor, don’t come back: If you come at a weekend, they are going to lock you up.’ I agreed that I would leave Ghana and just go to Britain because I needed no visa to go and I had my credit card. We agreed that I will buy ticket and I will run away. I entered into the lift and Nehemiah showed up in the lift. Inside of the spirit, the word came. I told them that I disagree with them; that I was going back. I booked my flight back to Lagos. I arrived at the airport, nobody saw me till I walked through. I sat in my car. I was to be taken home and God said to me, ‘Go and show yourself to them because they will dismiss everyone from your church who helps you with protocol at the airport. They will say they smuggled you out.’

“I went back and said, you are looking for me. I said, don’t lay your finger on me because I came on my own. Let’s go. They interrogated me for 16 hours. Before I was arrested, I sent a letter to my lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and I sent a letter to my children and my wife abroad and said in case they kill me, I want you to know that to live is Christ; to die is gain. I believe this message and I’m not going to run away. By 3 am, they released me after they had interrogated me all night long. The questions were: How many children do you have? I said, not your own, they are my own. What is your religion? None, I have no religion.

How many houses do you have? I say I’m not a public servant, I don’t declare assets. What’s your passport number? It’s in your hand, you should know it. Then they gave me food. I said I was not eating. They gave me water to drink. I said I was not drinking. They said we would eat part of it. I said the part you will eat is not the part you have poisoned. I am not going to eat your food. I’m going to stay here all night. They say you are going home. Okay, enter that car. I said no, I don’t know whether you have put bomb in that car. I will enter this car and I will be running commentary from your station till I get to the church.

“Listen, you know what blessed my heart? When I got home at about 4-5 am and I called England, my family was in prayer and I said I have been released and my daughter came on phone and said now, I believe the message. She said if you had run, then I know there is nothing in it. Nobody in church, except those in leadership, knew I had been released. I entered the church on Sunday morning. It was packed full. It was all in the newspapers: Pastor Tunde Bakare arrested and everybody was reading it. My friend, Pastor Akinola was coming from Ibadan to quickly come to the church so that he can stabilize the church. He was coming full speed and he was calling on the phone in my home. I picked the phone. He thought it was Ebenezer, one of the drivers. He said, Ebenezer! Ebenezer!! I said it’s not Ebenezer. Why are you looking for the dead among the living? It is me, I’ve been released. He couldn’t believe.

“The next he would hear my voice was on radio. Now, if you want to be a friend of a man who is controversial and who is in trouble, because the word of God is controversial, then you have to make up your mind. That was the time people drew away from me because if there is skeleton in your cupboard and you go talk what you should not talk, they will kill you. They will bring everything out. That’s why men cannot preach compelling messages.

“The church was packed full and I picked the microphone and came from the side and said praise the Lord. They didn’t even know it was me. I said, praise the Lord somebody. When they saw me, the whole place shook almost to the ground and God said, I allowed this to happen so that you can see the quality of the work you are doing. The strength of a bridge is determined by the calibre of vehicles that can walk over it. When you faint in the day of adversity, it is because your strength is small.”

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/feb/28/503.html

Don't mess with Bakare.

compelling.

St.Funmi:

Don't mess with Bakare.

Why make we no mess with am.

He said  OBJ would die before may 29 1999 OBJ no die , suppose OBJ don die we for no dey this jagajaga mess in this country.

He said Yaradua would perform , yaradull is fast becoming the worst leader Nigeria would ever produce.

Having said this i think he his a lot better than the other celebrity men of god - we all know them one of them drove for 300 miles without fuel, one of them had his security agents beat the pulp out of a journalist, one of them rides abt in an execuitive jet i saw myself.

@topic

Are nigerians not tired of Bakare yet?

These' Men of God' have lost the plot. Is this how a 'Man of God' is supposed to act?
so he chose to cancel a meeting with the vice president for other issues. A meeting that may help Nigeria now that we are in trouble?

OMO IBO:

These' Men of God' have lost the plot. Is this how a 'Man of God' is supposed to act?
so he chose to cancel a meeting with the vice president for other issues. A meeting that may help Nigeria now that we are in trouble?

Even though Ive stopped taking Bakare serious since the OBJ times, I still think he has the right to choose where to and where not to go.
Or did yaradua and his VP tell you that they cannot get nigeria back to her feet without Bakare in the tea drinking/money wasting meeting?

OMO IBO:

These' Men of God' have lost the plot. Is this how a 'Man of God' is supposed to act?
so he chose to cancel a meeting with the vice president for other issues. A meeting that may help Nigeria now that we are in trouble?

How would a tea meeting bring Nigeria back to its feet. Did all the days OBJ went to the redeemed camp bring Nigeria back to its feet?

Lagosboy:

How would a tea meeting bring Nigeria back to its feet. Did all the days OBJ went to the redeemed camp bring Nigeria back to its feet?

i hope you not taking that 'tea meeting' literarily.
lemme also state that i have no problem with him cancelling his appointment with the vice president but. . . . . . . . . i dont know about you guys but his comments has a snobbish undertone.

I dont think its snobbish, Daddy GO romanced with OBJ for 8 yrs and how did that affect the development of Nigeria or stemmed curruption. Our men of god are as currupt as the politician themselves.

i know this may sound like a cliche.
are you related to tunde bakare?

If you read my first post you would knw i am in no way defending Bakare. I talked of his unfulfilled prophecy and his earlier comment abt Yradua performing or him been a messiah cant remember.

For your info i am not a christian either so dont have any business with tunde bakare.

fair enuff. i just did not understand why you kept defending him.

anyways, he is serving human kind whether he chooses to see the VP or feed his flock

I agree with Pastor Bakare that it's more fruitful to "feed the flock" than to go dinning (in whatever guise) with a VP that may not be God fearing afterall. I mean what is the outcome of that meeting at the end of the day.

Compare that with one troubled believer whose spirit's been lifted from that day's sermon.

I prefer Bakare to all the other politico-religious leaders whose main ambition is to make money and always seek fame. The fact that he refused to go to such a stupid meeting shows that he still has some clout.
Any man who truly serves God has to know that God is bigger than all those stupid thieving politicians.

Somebody asked a question about OBJ's romance with GO Adeboye. . . did their romance help Nigeria in any way?

Does anyone have a list of the pastors who went to seek recognition in Aso rock?

Nigeria problem is beyond the picture this individuals are painting - whether Bakare or Goodluck.

Men of God should be wary of associating themselves too much with Nigerian politicians. Most of them that romanced with OBJ during his tenure were rubbished by him. Moreover, a lot of these politicians are into occultism. What then has light got to do with darkness? Any man of God that has a divine message to deliver to these politicians should send such messages through their subbordinates rather than go hob-nobbing with them and get contaminated in the process.

Nigeria. pastors, politics, nawaoooooooooooooooooooooo.

I agree with Pastor Bakare that it's more fruitful to "feed the flock" than to go dinning (in whatever guise) with a VP that may not be God fearing afterall. I mean what is the outcome of that meeting at the end of the day.

Compare that with one troubled believer whose spirit's been lifted from that day's sermon.

Don't mind lagosboy and Nuzo.

St.Funmi:

Don't mind lagosboy and Nuzo.

Wetin i do you nah, shey make i no talk am as i see am?

You guys should stop messing with men of God oooh. My hand no dey.

@lagosbobo, if you insult this man again, i won't let you marry karamamod again.

Aloy.Emeka:

You guys should stop messing with men of God oooh. My hand no dey.

@lagosbobo, if you insult this man again, i won't let you marry karamamod again.

I no insult am o my guy me i just talk my own and another person accuse me of me defending Bakare see me see trouble , make i kuku run commot this thread. Karmamod? ? me no won marry before nah abi na misplaced identity?

Lagosboy:

Wetin i do you nah, shey make i no talk am as i see am?

Once that woman dey involve; na race get me. Cos before you know wetin dey happen; she don begin accuse you of bullying women even for matter wey women no dey involved.

I think say na only me dey see am like that.

I hope some other pastors can take a leaf from Bakare and start doing what they profess rather than seeking human recognition all over the place

@ MR Crackeles------------ you are more or less a dead man for using the F word against the man of GOD. it's beta to shut your mouth than to use a foul word and regret it for the rest of your life. i've read so many posts where you always talk from both sides of your mouth. b warned.

Aks:

@ MR Crackeles------------ you are more or less a dead man for using the F word against the man of GOD. it's beta to shut your mouth than to use a foul word and regret it for the rest of your life. i've read so many posts where you always talk from both sides of your mouth. b warned.

Well now, aren't we getting all hot and flustered. Was that a death threat ? Awww how endearing, you cute little muffin.

I'm sure the object of your impotent rage is quaking in his boots right about now, so don't worry, be happy. Ha ha ha

Aks:

@ MR Crackeles------------ you are more or less a dead man for using the F word against the man of GOD. it's beta to shut your mouth than to use a foul word and regret it for the rest of your life. i've read so many posts where you always talk from both sides of your mouth. b warned.

@Aks
Be warned, or else what? haba aks, if you one can't express himself here, where else? if you have any problem, all you had to do was tell us your surname is bakare.
respect people's views man, you are not required to agree with them. Is that too complex for you to cope with?

@ MR Crackeles------------ you are more or less a dead man for using the F word against the man of GOD. it's beta to shut your mouth than to use a foul word and regret it for the rest of your life. i've read so many posts where you always talk from both sides of your mouth. b warned.

Its this attitude of trying to fight God's wars that lead many religious pundits to kill others in the name of God. Leave God to fight His wars.

@Jakumo, Aloy.emeka & ilosiwaju
i quite understand where u guys a coming from and i appreciate your comments. i was full of rage when i saw the comment posted by MRCRACKES and i couldn't control my emotion which led to the sending of that comment. No regret anyway, 'cos i've read so many contribution of this man to so many posts and all i culd do is just to caution him against passing -ve comments against man of GOD irrespective of who he/ she is. i hardly respond to posts, i just read and move on whenever i'm chanced but all DA same there should be respect for individual and diverse opinions on issues.

@ NAIRALAND---- good job, u guys are the bomb