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A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo - Politics (3) - Nairaland

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Photos : Namadi Sambo Hands Over Aguda House To Prof. Yemi Osinbajo / Sir Adeyemi Osinbajo - Prof Yemi Osinbajo's Father (photo) / Apc's Reply To Prof Charles Soludo (2) (3) (4)

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Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Nobody: 9:49pm On Feb 04, 2015
WinsomeX:
[size=16pt]OPEN LETTER TO PROF YEMI OSINBAJO
[/size]
I greet you sir in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I trust God that it is well with you and all of yours. I, along with other Nigerians, came into this new week - a week preceding the coming election - with the news that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), along with prominent members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), held a meeting at the Redeemed Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over the weekend, with you present, where it was said that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed over Gen. Buhari for the coming elections1. I wish to state categorically in this letter that CAN has not expressed the general opinion of Nigerian Christians. I want to encourage your spirit by saying that even if leading Pastors in this country have chosen Jonathan ahead of Buhari, your principal in the coming elections; there are some Nigerian Christians who disagree with this position. And I want to apologize to you for the trauma that you must have endured this last weekend as you watched men in the same work of Christ along with you, reject you for whatever reasons best known to them. I will start my letter to you by briefly telling you the story of my conversion to Buharism. Then I will try to locate the underlying motive behind the decision of these pastors in rejecting you. Finally, I would encourage you to focus on the task ahead of not just winning this election but also helping to salvage Nigeria from the grip of the lawlessness ones.

My Conversion to Buharism

As a Christian minister, there is an incidence in the bible that I am sure you are familiar with. It is one that involved the bible character Joshua. It reads: "13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."2 Many bible scholars agree that this story is one of many incidences where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his pre-incarnate form in the Old Testament. Here our Lord gives a relevant instruction to both Joshua and all of us Christians as you face probably the biggest warfare of your life. Joshua waned to know whether Jesus was for Israel or for the enemies. Jesus announces to him that he was for neither. In the process Joshua discovers something that causes him to worship God. I believe what Joshua discovered was that at the point of life's greatest wars, God never appears to take side with any group; rather he stands on the path of truth, verity and justice. And God will side with any group that has these elements present in their make up. I wish to state that God is neither for a Christian candidate in the election nor for a Muslim candidate; he neither for CAN or for a Muslim group; rather God is siding with any group or party that espouses the principles of truth, justice and development this country desperately needs at these times. Any other group that might mouth these tenets but deny them in practice will not have the support of the Almighty God.

These are essentially the sentiments that I came to grasp with when I converted to Buharism. Following Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Save Nigeria Group's endorsement of the candidacy of Gen. Buhari in December 2010, I gave the GMB option a thorough study and came to the conclusion that he was a better presidential candiditate in the 2011 elections. What solidified my position further was the attitude and sentiments expressed by fellow Christians to this decision of mine. It was clear to me that unlike our Lord and Savior who will side only with truth, Christians very readily threw away the Buhari option merely because he was a Muslim. The lie that he would Islamize Nigeria also did not help. On becoming a Buharist, I sat down to understudy the whole foundation of my faith in Christ and I discovered that many of it was faulty. Since then I have had to discard many cherished practices in the Christian faith and even leave the local assembly I had worshipped with for eight years. At the close of the day, Buharism brought me into a firmer and clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure anyone will agree that this is spiritual growth indeed. Buharism showed me that Christianity is not a mere religion but sincere love for human beings, regardless of the faith they profess. It showed me that truth and justice are the foundation on which God's throne was founded. It showed me that a person need not profess Christ to be used by him to better society. It showed me that God could still replay the story of Cyrus in rebuilding a fallen nation of Israel in our present political history. Despite my conversion to Buharism, I remain a Christian. But a Christian with a clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. I am now a Christian that is not bound by mere religious sentiments or parochial mindsets. This is what I believe a lot of Christians become when they come to know and support the candidacy of Gen. Buhari.

The Motive of these Pastors in Rejecting You

About two weeks ago, a news items surfaced from one of the many online news agencies in our country. It said, among other things, that a certain individual had been given large sums of money from the presidency of Nigeria to distribute to leading pastors in this country to garner their support towards the coming presidential elections3. While the veracity of this news item can be disputed, it is yet to be refuted by the individual who was clearly named by the news agency. I hope to show here that the motive in rejecting you at that meeting last weekend may not be too far from this incidence. Jesus taught us that there are two gods men worship: mammon or God4. There are no other options. This challenge is bedeviling the Christian faith at the moment and the end result is that the motives that underlie people's actions generally in life might either be for gain or for God. It is not news anymore that Nigerian Christianity is becoming the leading harbinger of a money gospel that many have very appropriately labeled the prosperity gospel. Neither is it surprising that majority of the men who rejected you in that meeting are the leading propagators of the prosperity message in our country. While the prosperity message has many tenets that one cannot explore at the moment, the key point of it all is money: how to get it and how to retain it. Thus the harbingers of this message follow the gangster rapper's philosophy of life: "Get Money or Die Trying"5. This philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of our Lord that instructed us not to make money our god or that of the apostle Paul that taught that if we have food and clothing we should be content6.

Therefore, when these pastors who espouse a money gospel came face to face with deciding on who to support in the forthcoming elections, it was not difficult for them to decide against a sound and properly laid out manifesto of the APC; neither did they have any qualms in discarding brilliant minds in the person of yourself and other leading APC stalwarts; they could not see any virtue in a leader that has no trace of corruption in his record of public service in the person of Buhari; neither did they see the new opportunity for change that the APC offers. These pastors very easily chose what has from the foundation of their ministries informed every other decision they have made in the past: they simply chose what will bring them money, advantage, acceptance with the powers that be; they fell to the god of mammon and gain that they have all along worshipped.

The Road Ahead

I was part of the people who met with you at the "I Have Decided" rally held at Teslim Balogun Stadium two weekends ago. I had received an email requesting my presence and had to travel from Ibadan on short notice that weekend to see you enumerate in fifteen minutes the vision of the APC for the coming political dispensation. That vision is what I wish you will focus on now because we shall reach that goal as a nation by the help of God. At that meeting, you taught us, Christians and Muslims alike, to join forces together to deliver our streets, neighborhoods and offices to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections. The "Change" fever has since caught everyone and most people I know are ready to vote anything but this present contraption we call a government. I receive calls for money and aids from Pastors in Maiduguri and I realize that what I could actually give them to help salvage that besieged Nigerian city is a new government of Buhari who is known to have tackled insurgency in the past and can do it again.

The road ahead will include a preparedness to enter into the greatest assignment of your life so far, which is to lead the largest black nation on earth. A nation that has been bastardized by years of harlot leaders but which now has the opportunity to have a scion of the late Obafemi Awolowo lead her and help introduce and implement the hundreds of laudable ideas that late sage had written in his books. You have a great opportunity to do well for Nigeria in the coming years. The road ahead will also include forgiveness and a reevaluation of your faith in Christ. When you come to power, like Joseph did, you must forgive your brethren who are at the moment selling you away for a pot of red porridge. You are coming to power to help save Nigeria from imminent doom and this is the path that God has chosen for you. These men, who have rejected you now, will face their shame in the days to come. But it is your duty and mine to forgive them and help them realize the folly of their action. To employ the words of the sitting president when he came to power in 2011, General Buhari and yourself "must hit the ground running" from May 29th onwards.

There is so much to do. There is a nation to save and rebuild. There are insurgent elements all around the country that must be silenced. There is an economy to revamp. There is a nation to help place in the map of advancing countries in the world of science and technology. There is a sea of human capitals among Nigerians youths waiting to be harnessed to turn this nation into a developed country. There is an African continent waiting for Nigeria to offer the lead to development and progress. The list is endless. In short, Nigeria is waiting for the manifestation of a son of God7.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that the aim of this letter, which is to uphold your hand in the events of the coming elections, has been achieved.

I had argued in previous essays that Christians were not participating enough in partisan politics. I envisioned that a day will arise when a position shall be left in public office that a Christian alone could fill and there would hardly be anyone around to fill it. I am happy to see that when that situation arose in the APC, the leadership of the party found an experienced individual in your person to fill the gap. Despite your rejection by an arm of Christian leaders in the country, please be informed that a host of others support you. And more than anything else, the God of heaven is with you8.

Be rest assured that the prayers of God's people are with you and you have our unalloyed support in this mission. The duty of nation building is undoubtedly prominently connected with our responsibility to make disciples of all nations. If Nigeria, our Jerusalem, knows peace and progress; our calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ will only be made a lot easier. Go forth and make history.

God bless you.

References

1. www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/
2. Joshua 5:13-15
3. www.saharareporters.com/2015/01/29/kennedy-okpara-distributing-jonathan’s-bribes-pastors
4. Matthew 6:24
5."Get Money or Die Trying" is the name of the hit album by American Gangster Rapper 50cents. One finds that the Prosperity Preachers share similar philosophy with Rappers.
6. 1 Timothy 6:6
7. Romans 8:19
8. Hebrew 13:5


May God bless you, and may all these evil men of god(Mormon) be put to shame,since they will rather enrich their pockets at the expense of the masses

6 Likes 2 Shares

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Horrlah(f): 9:51pm On Feb 04, 2015
live4christ:
honest people are loved by few.if God be for
Gej,who can be against him. He has given us
democracy which is freedom with free and fair
polls.Obj could not give us this,to the extent
he said Christ could not conduct fair polls in
Nigeria.now we have another strong party in
Nigeria which is APC.so vote for democracy,
VOTE FOR GEJ.
shocked

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by drwebs: 9:52pm On Feb 04, 2015
To say the truth, the position of a VP is like that of a spare tyre. We should not assume that Osinbajo will do all the good things he has planned to do or prevent GMB from doing anything he wants to do. This story and Bible pages you are qouting can only hold ground if Osinbajo was vying to be the president, even at that, he's opponent is still a xtian. Who says Osinbajo is a better xtian than GEJ, who says Osinbajo means well for Naija more than GEJ. For me, I'll not cast my vote for APC just because the VP is a xtian, when we all know that choosing him was a political calculation to woe the South West.

2 Likes

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by emmadejust(m): 9:52pm On Feb 04, 2015
shalom shalom nige....ria......

vote for Better future and PEACE.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by emmadejust(m): 9:52pm On Feb 04, 2015
bros ur interpretation of the verse in the bible you quoted is as ur own logics and vain knowledge of faith and believe,
follow and support any individual you believe wil work as a Visionary leader in any position, Which in 3years to come you wil stil be proud you support him in his/her ambition.

reportin by DEJUST fm
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Shoutozone: 9:53pm On Feb 04, 2015
Very good of you sire. .. God bless you. Support Buhari - Osinbanjo for president
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by zimoni(f): 9:54pm On Feb 04, 2015
Whatever.

Jonathan Till 2019.



Lobatan.

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by jamace(m): 9:54pm On Feb 04, 2015
OP, how I wish you know what the outcome of the election will be, you will not bother yourself writing this outdated epistle. See the result here: https://www.nairaland.com/2122495/oracle-predicts-victory-jonathanin-28

You may see here too: https://www.nairaland.com/2127402/2015-elections...as-prophets-gives-contradictory

GEJ all the way!

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by linuxuser(m): 9:56pm On Feb 04, 2015
First I thank God for you for supporting your brother which is your right. But unfortunately you seem not to accord the same right to others. I do not know the orientation you have had even though you claimed to be a minister but its obvious from your writing that you are just a babe still drinking milk and have to grow to start eating bones.

Your writing suggested that some pastors collected money and that that is why your osibanjo is been rejected. I have a simple question for you. Were you there when that money was collected? If you were not there, have you seen an evidence that such happened or you just woke up and start writing? If all you are basing your writing on hear say, then am sorry you have missed the mark and needs to go to those pastors and do restitution.



WinsomeX:
[size=16pt]OPEN LETTER TO PROF YEMI OSINBAJO
[/size]
I greet you sir in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I trust God that it is well with you and all of yours. I, along with other Nigerians, came into this new week - a week preceding the coming election - with the news that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), along with prominent members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), held a meeting at the Redeemed Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over the weekend, with you present, where it was said that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed over Gen. Buhari for the coming elections1. I wish to state categorically in this letter that CAN has not expressed the general opinion of Nigerian Christians. I want to encourage your spirit by saying that even if leading Pastors in this country have chosen Jonathan ahead of Buhari, your principal in the coming elections; there are some Nigerian Christians who disagree with this position. And I want to apologize to you for the trauma that you must have endured this last weekend as you watched men in the same work of Christ along with you, reject you for whatever reasons best known to them. I will start my letter to you by briefly telling you the story of my conversion to Buharism. Then I will try to locate the underlying motive behind the decision of these pastors in rejecting you. Finally, I would encourage you to focus on the task ahead of not just winning this election but also helping to salvage Nigeria from the grip of the lawlessness ones.

My Conversion to Buharism

As a Christian minister, there is an incidence in the bible that I am sure you are familiar with. It is one that involved the bible character Joshua. It reads: "13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."2 Many bible scholars agree that this story is one of many incidences where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his pre-incarnate form in the Old Testament. Here our Lord gives a relevant instruction to both Joshua and all of us Christians as you face probably the biggest warfare of your life. Joshua waned to know whether Jesus was for Israel or for the enemies. Jesus announces to him that he was for neither. In the process Joshua discovers something that causes him to worship God. I believe what Joshua discovered was that at the point of life's greatest wars, God never appears to take side with any group; rather he stands on the path of truth, verity and justice. And God will side with any group that has these elements present in their make up. I wish to state that God is neither for a Christian candidate in the election nor for a Muslim candidate; he neither for CAN or for a Muslim group; rather God is siding with any group or party that espouses the principles of truth, justice and development this country desperately needs at these times. Any other group that might mouth these tenets but deny them in practice will not have the support of the Almighty God.

These are essentially the sentiments that I came to grasp with when I converted to Buharism. Following Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Save Nigeria Group's endorsement of the candidacy of Gen. Buhari in December 2010, I gave the GMB option a thorough study and came to the conclusion that he was a better presidential candiditate in the 2011 elections. What solidified my position further was the attitude and sentiments expressed by fellow Christians to this decision of mine. It was clear to me that unlike our Lord and Savior who will side only with truth, Christians very readily threw away the Buhari option merely because he was a Muslim. The lie that he would Islamize Nigeria also did not help. On becoming a Buharist, I sat down to understudy the whole foundation of my faith in Christ and I discovered that many of it was faulty. Since then I have had to discard many cherished practices in the Christian faith and even leave the local assembly I had worshipped with for eight years. At the close of the day, Buharism brought me into a firmer and clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure anyone will agree that this is spiritual growth indeed. Buharism showed me that Christianity is not a mere religion but sincere love for human beings, regardless of the faith they profess. It showed me that truth and justice are the foundation on which God's throne was founded. It showed me that a person need not profess Christ to be used by him to better society. It showed me that God could still replay the story of Cyrus in rebuilding a fallen nation of Israel in our present political history. Despite my conversion to Buharism, I remain a Christian. But a Christian with a clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. I am now a Christian that is not bound by mere religious sentiments or parochial mindsets. This is what I believe a lot of Christians become when they come to know and support the candidacy of Gen. Buhari.

The Motive of these Pastors in Rejecting You

About two weeks ago, a news items surfaced from one of the many online news agencies in our country. It said, among other things, that a certain individual had been given large sums of money from the presidency of Nigeria to distribute to leading pastors in this country to garner their support towards the coming presidential elections3. While the veracity of this news item can be disputed, it is yet to be refuted by the individual who was clearly named by the news agency. I hope to show here that the motive in rejecting you at that meeting last weekend may not be too far from this incidence. Jesus taught us that there are two gods men worship: mammon or God4. There are no other options. This challenge is bedeviling the Christian faith at the moment and the end result is that the motives that underlie people's actions generally in life might either be for gain or for God. It is not news anymore that Nigerian Christianity is becoming the leading harbinger of a money gospel that many have very appropriately labeled the prosperity gospel. Neither is it surprising that majority of the men who rejected you in that meeting are the leading propagators of the prosperity message in our country. While the prosperity message has many tenets that one cannot explore at the moment, the key point of it all is money: how to get it and how to retain it. Thus the harbingers of this message follow the gangster rapper's philosophy of life: "Get Money or Die Trying"5. This philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of our Lord that instructed us not to make money our god or that of the apostle Paul that taught that if we have food and clothing we should be content6.

Therefore, when these pastors who espouse a money gospel came face to face with deciding on who to support in the forthcoming elections, it was not difficult for them to decide against a sound and properly laid out manifesto of the APC; neither did they have any qualms in discarding brilliant minds in the person of yourself and other leading APC stalwarts; they could not see any virtue in a leader that has no trace of corruption in his record of public service in the person of Buhari; neither did they see the new opportunity for change that the APC offers. These pastors very easily chose what has from the foundation of their ministries informed every other decision they have made in the past: they simply chose what will bring them money, advantage, acceptance with the powers that be; they fell to the god of mammon and gain that they have all along worshipped.

The Road Ahead

I was part of the people who met with you at the "I Have Decided" rally held at Teslim Balogun Stadium two weekends ago. I had received an email requesting my presence and had to travel from Ibadan on short notice that weekend to see you enumerate in fifteen minutes the vision of the APC for the coming political dispensation. That vision is what I wish you will focus on now because we shall reach that goal as a nation by the help of God. At that meeting, you taught us, Christians and Muslims alike, to join forces together to deliver our streets, neighborhoods and offices to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections. The "Change" fever has since caught everyone and most people I know are ready to vote anything but this present contraption we call a government. I receive calls for money and aids from Pastors in Maiduguri and I realize that what I could actually give them to help salvage that besieged Nigerian city is a new government of Buhari who is known to have tackled insurgency in the past and can do it again.

The road ahead will include a preparedness to enter into the greatest assignment of your life so far, which is to lead the largest black nation on earth. A nation that has been bastardized by years of harlot leaders but which now has the opportunity to have a scion of the late Obafemi Awolowo lead her and help introduce and implement the hundreds of laudable ideas that late sage had written in his books. You have a great opportunity to do well for Nigeria in the coming years. The road ahead will also include forgiveness and a reevaluation of your faith in Christ. When you come to power, like Joseph did, you must forgive your brethren who are at the moment selling you away for a pot of red porridge. You are coming to power to help save Nigeria from imminent doom and this is the path that God has chosen for you. These men, who have rejected you now, will face their shame in the days to come. But it is your duty and mine to forgive them and help them realize the folly of their action. To employ the words of the sitting president when he came to power in 2011, General Buhari and yourself "must hit the ground running" from May 29th onwards.

There is so much to do. There is a nation to save and rebuild. There are insurgent elements all around the country that must be silenced. There is an economy to revamp. There is a nation to help place in the map of advancing countries in the world of science and technology. There is a sea of human capitals among Nigerians youths waiting to be harnessed to turn this nation into a developed country. There is an African continent waiting for Nigeria to offer the lead to development and progress. The list is endless. In short, Nigeria is waiting for the manifestation of a son of God7.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that the aim of this letter, which is to uphold your hand in the events of the coming elections, has been achieved.

I had argued in previous essays that Christians were not participating enough in partisan politics. I envisioned that a day will arise when a position shall be left in public office that a Christian alone could fill and there would hardly be anyone around to fill it. I am happy to see that when that situation arose in the APC, the leadership of the party found an experienced individual in your person to fill the gap. Despite your rejection by an arm of Christian leaders in the country, please be informed that a host of others support you. And more than anything else, the God of heaven is with you8.

Be rest assured that the prayers of God's people are with you and you have our unalloyed support in this mission. The duty of nation building is undoubtedly prominently connected with our responsibility to make disciples of all nations. If Nigeria, our Jerusalem, knows peace and progress; our calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ will only be made a lot easier. Go forth and make history.

God bless you.

References

1. www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/
2. Joshua 5:13-15
3. www.saharareporters.com/2015/01/29/kennedy-okpara-distributing-jonathan’s-bribes-pastors
4. Matthew 6:24
5."Get Money or Die Trying" is the name of the hit album by American Gangster Rapper 50cents. One finds that the Prosperity Preachers share similar philosophy with Rappers.
6. 1 Timothy 6:6
7. Romans 8:19
8. Hebrew 13:5
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by chichriso: 9:57pm On Feb 04, 2015
hmmm
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by genearts(m): 9:57pm On Feb 04, 2015
We have 2 major problems in this country
1. Our Politicians
2. Our Pastors

2 Likes

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by DoctorJones: 10:00pm On Feb 04, 2015
WinsomeX:
[size=16pt]OPEN LETTER TO PROF YEMI OSINBAJO
[/size]
I greet you sir in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I trust God that it is well with you and all of yours. I, along with other Nigerians, came into this new week - a week preceding the coming election - with the news that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), along with prominent members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), held a meeting at the Redeemed Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over the weekend, with you present, where it was said that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed over Gen. Buhari for the coming elections1. I wish to state categorically in this letter that CAN has not expressed the general opinion of Nigerian Christians. I want to encourage your spirit by saying that even if leading Pastors in this country have chosen Jonathan ahead of Buhari, your principal in the coming elections; there are some Nigerian Christians who disagree with this position. And I want to apologize to you for the trauma that you must have endured this last weekend as you watched men in the same work of Christ along with you, reject you for whatever reasons best known to them. I will start my letter to you by briefly telling you the story of my conversion to Buharism. Then I will try to locate the underlying motive behind the decision of these pastors in rejecting you. Finally, I would encourage you to focus on the task ahead of not just winning this election but also helping to salvage Nigeria from the grip of the lawlessness ones.

My Conversion to Buharism

As a Christian minister, there is an incidence in the bible that I am sure you are familiar with. It is one that involved the bible character Joshua. It reads: "13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."2 Many bible scholars agree that this story is one of many incidences where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his pre-incarnate form in the Old Testament. Here our Lord gives a relevant instruction to both Joshua and all of us Christians as you face probably the biggest warfare of your life. Joshua waned to know whether Jesus was for Israel or for the enemies. Jesus announces to him that he was for neither. In the process Joshua discovers something that causes him to worship God. I believe what Joshua discovered was that at the point of life's greatest wars, God never appears to take side with any group; rather he stands on the path of truth, verity and justice. And God will side with any group that has these elements present in their make up. I wish to state that God is neither for a Christian candidate in the election nor for a Muslim candidate; he neither for CAN or for a Muslim group; rather God is siding with any group or party that espouses the principles of truth, justice and development this country desperately needs at these times. Any other group that might mouth these tenets but deny them in practice will not have the support of the Almighty God.

These are essentially the sentiments that I came to grasp with when I converted to Buharism. Following Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Save Nigeria Group's endorsement of the candidacy of Gen. Buhari in December 2010, I gave the GMB option a thorough study and came to the conclusion that he was a better presidential candiditate in the 2011 elections. What solidified my position further was the attitude and sentiments expressed by fellow Christians to this decision of mine. It was clear to me that unlike our Lord and Savior who will side only with truth, Christians very readily threw away the Buhari option merely because he was a Muslim. The lie that he would Islamize Nigeria also did not help. On becoming a Buharist, I sat down to understudy the whole foundation of my faith in Christ and I discovered that many of it was faulty. Since then I have had to discard many cherished practices in the Christian faith and even leave the local assembly I had worshipped with for eight years. At the close of the day, Buharism brought me into a firmer and clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure anyone will agree that this is spiritual growth indeed. Buharism showed me that Christianity is not a mere religion but sincere love for human beings, regardless of the faith they profess. It showed me that truth and justice are the foundation on which God's throne was founded. It showed me that a person need not profess Christ to be used by him to better society. It showed me that God could still replay the story of Cyrus in rebuilding a fallen nation of Israel in our present political history. Despite my conversion to Buharism, I remain a Christian. But a Christian with a clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. I am now a Christian that is not bound by mere religious sentiments or parochial mindsets. This is what I believe a lot of Christians become when they come to know and support the candidacy of Gen. Buhari.

The Motive of these Pastors in Rejecting You

About two weeks ago, a news items surfaced from one of the many online news agencies in our country. It said, among other things, that a certain individual had been given large sums of money from the presidency of Nigeria to distribute to leading pastors in this country to garner their support towards the coming presidential elections3. While the veracity of this news item can be disputed, it is yet to be refuted by the individual who was clearly named by the news agency. I hope to show here that the motive in rejecting you at that meeting last weekend may not be too far from this incidence. Jesus taught us that there are two gods men worship: mammon or God4. There are no other options. This challenge is bedeviling the Christian faith at the moment and the end result is that the motives that underlie people's actions generally in life might either be for gain or for God. It is not news anymore that Nigerian Christianity is becoming the leading harbinger of a money gospel that many have very appropriately labeled the prosperity gospel. Neither is it surprising that majority of the men who rejected you in that meeting are the leading propagators of the prosperity message in our country. While the prosperity message has many tenets that one cannot explore at the moment, the key point of it all is money: how to get it and how to retain it. Thus the harbingers of this message follow the gangster rapper's philosophy of life: "Get Money or Die Trying"5. This philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of our Lord that instructed us not to make money our god or that of the apostle Paul that taught that if we have food and clothing we should be content6.

Therefore, when these pastors who espouse a money gospel came face to face with deciding on who to support in the forthcoming elections, it was not difficult for them to decide against a sound and properly laid out manifesto of the APC; neither did they have any qualms in discarding brilliant minds in the person of yourself and other leading APC stalwarts; they could not see any virtue in a leader that has no trace of corruption in his record of public service in the person of Buhari; neither did they see the new opportunity for change that the APC offers. These pastors very easily chose what has from the foundation of their ministries informed every other decision they have made in the past: they simply chose what will bring them money, advantage, acceptance with the powers that be; they fell to the god of mammon and gain that they have all along worshipped.

The Road Ahead

I was part of the people who met with you at the "I Have Decided" rally held at Teslim Balogun Stadium two weekends ago. I had received an email requesting my presence and had to travel from Ibadan on short notice that weekend to see you enumerate in fifteen minutes the vision of the APC for the coming political dispensation. That vision is what I wish you will focus on now because we shall reach that goal as a nation by the help of God. At that meeting, you taught us, Christians and Muslims alike, to join forces together to deliver our streets, neighborhoods and offices to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections. The "Change" fever has since caught everyone and most people I know are ready to vote anything but this present contraption we call a government. I receive calls for money and aids from Pastors in Maiduguri and I realize that what I could actually give them to help salvage that besieged Nigerian city is a new government of Buhari who is known to have tackled insurgency in the past and can do it again.

The road ahead will include a preparedness to enter into the greatest assignment of your life so far, which is to lead the largest black nation on earth. A nation that has been bastardized by years of harlot leaders but which now has the opportunity to have a scion of the late Obafemi Awolowo lead her and help introduce and implement the hundreds of laudable ideas that late sage had written in his books. You have a great opportunity to do well for Nigeria in the coming years. The road ahead will also include forgiveness and a reevaluation of your faith in Christ. When you come to power, like Joseph did, you must forgive your brethren who are at the moment selling you away for a pot of red porridge. You are coming to power to help save Nigeria from imminent doom and this is the path that God has chosen for you. These men, who have rejected you now, will face their shame in the days to come. But it is your duty and mine to forgive them and help them realize the folly of their action. To employ the words of the sitting president when he came to power in 2011, General Buhari and yourself "must hit the ground running" from May 29th onwards.

There is so much to do. There is a nation to save and rebuild. There are insurgent elements all around the country that must be silenced. There is an economy to revamp. There is a nation to help place in the map of advancing countries in the world of science and technology. There is a sea of human capitals among Nigerians youths waiting to be harnessed to turn this nation into a developed country. There is an African continent waiting for Nigeria to offer the lead to development and progress. The list is endless. In short, Nigeria is waiting for the manifestation of a son of God7.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that the aim of this letter, which is to uphold your hand in the events of the coming elections, has been achieved.

I had argued in previous essays that Christians were not participating enough in partisan politics. I envisioned that a day will arise when a position shall be left in public office that a Christian alone could fill and there would hardly be anyone around to fill it. I am happy to see that when that situation arose in the APC, the leadership of the party found an experienced individual in your person to fill the gap. Despite your rejection by an arm of Christian leaders in the country, please be informed that a host of others support you. And more than anything else, the God of heaven is with you8.

Be rest assured that the prayers of God's people are with you and you have our unalloyed support in this mission. The duty of nation building is undoubtedly prominently connected with our responsibility to make disciples of all nations. If Nigeria, our Jerusalem, knows peace and progress; our calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ will only be made a lot easier. Go forth and make history.

God bless you.

References

1. www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/
2. Joshua 5:13-15
3. www.saharareporters.com/2015/01/29/kennedy-okpara-distributing-jonathan’s-bribes-pastors
4. Matthew 6:24
5."Get Money or Die Trying" is the name of the hit album by American Gangster Rapper 50cents. One finds that the Prosperity Preachers share similar philosophy with Rappers.
6. 1 Timothy 6:6
7. Romans 8:19
8. Hebrew 13:5

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah..........
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by bobisky(m): 10:05pm On Feb 04, 2015
Keep on doing propaganda 4 APC and be sayin you are preaching to us.do you know beta than those men of God you are slandring?did God reveal to you that they steal?if not may God 4giv u.did u see them recieving the money?because you were bribed to join buharism you want them to do likewise?TB Joshua is an APC fan.we are citizen of this country and have right to chose wat we want and free to vote for who we like.dnt judge ppl on what you dnt know so you wont be judged.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by leyeisaac: 10:08pm On Feb 04, 2015
wow, interesting
I see two set of people here,
1. those who believe things should or can be done in a better way

2. those who believe this is the best way to do things and would pray to God to direct their lives in such a manner

pls say AMEN!!! to whereever you belong to
THANKS

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by cluksy(m): 10:08pm On Feb 04, 2015
@op u so enjoyed talking sh*t that longest. #HowMuch were u paid?


I think u should be quiet n stop moralising on our God given Christian leaders ok?

when Jesus offer us a new life, He offers us a new lifestyle 1 Cor 6:12-20
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by blackandbold: 10:10pm On Feb 04, 2015
old time religion..that sees oppression of the masses as unwelcomed...old time religiom that sees corruption as an aberration ...old time religion that speaks against anti people government. .old time religion that voiced the pain, concerns and desires of the common man..old time rekigion that protest against absolute lack of fear God in political ofdice holder...old time religion is long llgone from from modern day christianity...what we have now is partisan religion
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by FredHandsome(m): 10:14pm On Feb 04, 2015
Bleep it! GEJ has my vote already!
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by idiemeh: 10:18pm On Feb 04, 2015
At least u just showed us your literary prowess, but to be honest with you, you end up not making any sense whatsoever. You know why?because Buhari's person cannot in any way represent change,no matter how you guys try to lauder his image. He remains what he is,that is Bokoharist-meaning BOKO HARAM. GEJ is the answer we need till 2019,there is no vacancy in Aso rock okay!
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by cmoneke: 10:18pm On Feb 04, 2015
To d letter writter n to pastor osibanjo. U pastors teach us in sunday sch in rccg that Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? And also it is in d muslin word
Too so d word APC can't change it bc we r nigeria.
Now ur d one doing it hope u no there is God if a man sin against God there is no forgiveness be worned
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Oildichotomy(m): 10:20pm On Feb 04, 2015
[size=15pt]Someone actually calling himself a BUHARIST scares the daylight out of me.

Like seriously who does that? Of all the movement names in the world, the sound of that connotes something we are currently fightingundecided[/size]

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by WinsomeX: 10:23pm On Feb 04, 2015
olamonsor2:
I am his PA, Noted and i will deliver it. Thank you sir

Thank you.

I already sent a copy to his Facebook page. There you find my true name.

Cheers.

1 Like

Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Nobody: 10:25pm On Feb 04, 2015
GEJ & PDP are the worst thing that have ever happened to Nigeria.This govt is just wack.Its only an insane person that will keep doing the same thing & expecting a change...that's ridiculous! Febuhari 14,its Buhari all the way,for the change we desire.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Cenken(m): 10:29pm On Feb 04, 2015
They want change;
I need TRANSFORMATION.
#GEJ till the sky stops existing.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by WinsomeX: 10:37pm On Feb 04, 2015
linuxuser:

Your writing suggested that some pastors collected money and that that is why your osibanjo is been rejected. I have a simple question for you. Were you there when that money was collected? If you were not there, have you seen an evidence that such happened or you just woke up and start writing? If all you are basing your writing on hear say, then am sorry you have missed the mark and needs to go to those pastors and do restitution.

Check my references 1 and 3. Especially 3. Those stories have not been refuted either by Kenedy Opara or the Pastors mentioned in 1.

Remember how Winners refuted the "Gates of Hell" allegation? Why haven't they or others done same with these stories. Now since I do not know which Pastors collected what, I stayed away from mentioning names. But it open secret that now that the PDP has been bribing pastors to support GEJ.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by ichuka(m): 10:38pm On Feb 04, 2015
WinsomeX:
[size=16pt]OPEN LETTER TO PROF YEMI OSINBAJO
[/size]
I greet you sir in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I trust God that it is well with you and all of yours. I, along with other Nigerians, came into this new week - a week preceding the coming election - with the news that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), along with prominent members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), held a meeting at the Redeemed Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over the weekend, with you present, where it was said that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed over Gen. Buhari for the coming elections1. I wish to state categorically in this letter that CAN has not expressed the general opinion of Nigerian Christians. I want to encourage your spirit by saying that even if leading Pastors in this country have chosen Jonathan ahead of Buhari, your principal in the coming elections; there are some Nigerian Christians who disagree with this position. And I want to apologize to you for the trauma that you must have endured this last weekend as you watched men in the same work of Christ along with you, reject you for whatever reasons best known to them. I will start my letter to you by briefly telling you the story of my conversion to Buharism. Then I will try to locate the underlying motive behind the decision of these pastors in rejecting you. Finally, I would encourage you to focus on the task ahead of not just winning this election but also helping to salvage Nigeria from the grip of the lawlessness ones.

My Conversion to Buharism

As a Christian minister, there is an incidence in the bible that I am sure you are familiar with. It is one that involved the bible character Joshua. It reads: "13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."2 Many bible scholars agree that this story is one of many incidences where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his pre-incarnate form in the Old Testament. Here our Lord gives a relevant instruction to both Joshua and all of us Christians as you face probably the biggest warfare of your life. Joshua waned to know whether Jesus was for Israel or for the enemies. Jesus announces to him that he was for neither. In the process Joshua discovers something that causes him to worship God. I believe what Joshua discovered was that at the point of life's greatest wars, God never appears to take side with any group; rather he stands on the path of truth, verity and justice. And God will side with any group that has these elements present in their make up. I wish to state that God is neither for a Christian candidate in the election nor for a Muslim candidate; he neither for CAN or for a Muslim group; rather God is siding with any group or party that espouses the principles of truth, justice and development this country desperately needs at these times. Any other group that might mouth these tenets but deny them in practice will not have the support of the Almighty God.

These are essentially the sentiments that I came to grasp with when I converted to Buharism. Following Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Save Nigeria Group's endorsement of the candidacy of Gen. Buhari in December 2010, I gave the GMB option a thorough study and came to the conclusion that he was a better presidential candiditate in the 2011 elections. What solidified my position further was the attitude and sentiments expressed by fellow Christians to this decision of mine. It was clear to me that unlike our Lord and Savior who will side only with truth, Christians very readily threw away the Buhari option merely because he was a Muslim. The lie that he would Islamize Nigeria also did not help. On becoming a Buharist, I sat down to understudy the whole foundation of my faith in Christ and I discovered that many of it was faulty. Since then I have had to discard many cherished practices in the Christian faith and even leave the local assembly I had worshipped with for eight years. At the close of the day, Buharism brought me into a firmer and clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure anyone will agree that this is spiritual growth indeed. Buharism showed me that Christianity is not a mere religion but sincere love for human beings, regardless of the faith they profess. It showed me that truth and justice are the foundation on which God's throne was founded. It showed me that a person need not profess Christ to be used by him to better society. It showed me that God could still replay the story of Cyrus in rebuilding a fallen nation of Israel in our present political history. Despite my conversion to Buharism, I remain a Christian. But a Christian with a clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. I am now a Christian that is not bound by mere religious sentiments or parochial mindsets. This is what I believe a lot of Christians become when they come to know and support the candidacy of Gen. Buhari.

The Motive of these Pastors in Rejecting You

About two weeks ago, a news items surfaced from one of the many online news agencies in our country. It said, among other things, that a certain individual had been given large sums of money from the presidency of Nigeria to distribute to leading pastors in this country to garner their support towards the coming presidential elections3. While the veracity of this news item can be disputed, it is yet to be refuted by the individual who was clearly named by the news agency. I hope to show here that the motive in rejecting you at that meeting last weekend may not be too far from this incidence. Jesus taught us that there are two gods men worship: mammon or God4. There are no other options. This challenge is bedeviling the Christian faith at the moment and the end result is that the motives that underlie people's actions generally in life might either be for gain or for God. It is not news anymore that Nigerian Christianity is becoming the leading harbinger of a money gospel that many have very appropriately labeled the prosperity gospel. Neither is it surprising that majority of the men who rejected you in that meeting are the leading propagators of the prosperity message in our country. While the prosperity message has many tenets that one cannot explore at the moment, the key point of it all is money: how to get it and how to retain it. Thus the harbingers of this message follow the gangster rapper's philosophy of life: "Get Money or Die Trying"5. This philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of our Lord that instructed us not to make money our god or that of the apostle Paul that taught that if we have food and clothing we should be content6.

Therefore, when these pastors who espouse a money gospel came face to face with deciding on who to support in the forthcoming elections, it was not difficult for them to decide against a sound and properly laid out manifesto of the APC; neither did they have any qualms in discarding brilliant minds in the person of yourself and other leading APC stalwarts; they could not see any virtue in a leader that has no trace of corruption in his record of public service in the person of Buhari; neither did they see the new opportunity for change that the APC offers. These pastors very easily chose what has from the foundation of their ministries informed every other decision they have made in the past: they simply chose what will bring them money, advantage, acceptance with the powers that be; they fell to the god of mammon and gain that they have all along worshipped.

The Road Ahead

I was part of the people who met with you at the "I Have Decided" rally held at Teslim Balogun Stadium two weekends ago. I had received an email requesting my presence and had to travel from Ibadan on short notice that weekend to see you enumerate in fifteen minutes the vision of the APC for the coming political dispensation. That vision is what I wish you will focus on now because we shall reach that goal as a nation by the help of God. At that meeting, you taught us, Christians and Muslims alike, to join forces together to deliver our streets, neighborhoods and offices to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections. The "Change" fever has since caught everyone and most people I know are ready to vote anything but this present contraption we call a government. I receive calls for money and aids from Pastors in Maiduguri and I realize that what I could actually give them to help salvage that besieged Nigerian city is a new government of Buhari who is known to have tackled insurgency in the past and can do it again.

The road ahead will include a preparedness to enter into the greatest assignment of your life so far, which is to lead the largest black nation on earth. A nation that has been bastardized by years of harlot leaders but which now has the opportunity to have a scion of the late Obafemi Awolowo lead her and help introduce and implement the hundreds of laudable ideas that late sage had written in his books. You have a great opportunity to do well for Nigeria in the coming years. The road ahead will also include forgiveness and a reevaluation of your faith in Christ. When you come to power, like Joseph did, you must forgive your brethren who are at the moment selling you away for a pot of red porridge. You are coming to power to help save Nigeria from imminent doom and this is the path that God has chosen for you. These men, who have rejected you now, will face their shame in the days to come. But it is your duty and mine to forgive them and help them realize the folly of their action. To employ the words of the sitting president when he came to power in 2011, General Buhari and yourself "must hit the ground running" from May 29th onwards.

There is so much to do. There is a nation to save and rebuild. There are insurgent elements all around the country that must be silenced. There is an economy to revamp. There is a nation to help place in the map of advancing countries in the world of science and technology. There is a sea of human capitals among Nigerians youths waiting to be harnessed to turn this nation into a developed country. There is an African continent waiting for Nigeria to offer the lead to development and progress. The list is endless. In short, Nigeria is waiting for the manifestation of a son of God7.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that the aim of this letter, which is to uphold your hand in the events of the coming elections, has been achieved.

I had argued in previous essays that Christians were not participating enough in partisan politics. I envisioned that a day will arise when a position shall be left in public office that a Christian alone could fill and there would hardly be anyone around to fill it. I am happy to see that when that situation arose in the APC, the leadership of the party found an experienced individual in your person to fill the gap. Despite your rejection by an arm of Christian leaders in the country, please be informed that a host of others support you. And more than anything else, the God of heaven is with you8.

Be rest assured that the prayers of God's people are with you and you have our unalloyed support in this mission. The duty of nation building is undoubtedly prominently connected with our responsibility to make disciples of all nations. If Nigeria, our Jerusalem, knows peace and progress; our calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ will only be made a lot easier. Go forth and make history.

God bless you.

References

1. www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/
2. Joshua 5:13-15
3. www.saharareporters.com/2015/01/29/kennedy-okpara-distributing-jonathan’s-bribes-pastors
4. Matthew 6:24
5."Get Money or Die Trying" is the name of the hit album by American Gangster Rapper 50cents. One finds that the Prosperity Preachers share similar philosophy with Rappers.
6. 1 Timothy 6:6
7. Romans 8:19
8. Hebrew 13:5

For the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God: and
if it first begin at us, what shall the
end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God?1peter4:17
My brother we shld continue to pray for them so that what happened to Balaam wld never b there portion in Jésus name.
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by johnnyblakes(m): 10:39pm On Feb 04, 2015
linuxuser:
First I thank God for you for supporting your brother which is your right. But unfortunately you seem not to accord the same right to others. I do not know the orientation you have had even though you claimed to be a minister but its obvious from your writing that you are just a babe still drinking milk and have to grow to start eating bones.

Your writing suggested that some pastors collected money and that that is why your osibanjo is been rejected. I have a simple question for you. Were you there when that money was collected? If you were not there, have you seen an evidence that such happened or you just woke up and start writing? If all you are basing your writing on hear say, then am sorry you have missed the mark and needs to go to those pastors and do restitution.



peace be with u brother
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Mayorblaze: 10:47pm On Feb 04, 2015
Op ..The only thing i got out of this poo is that YOU TRAVELLED FROM IBADAN TO LAGOS JUST TO HEAR BUHARI SPEAK..

PLEASE HOW MUCH WERE YOU PAID? need to refund the money to you so that u can purchase a little common sense even if that is achievable at your age..
No wonder someone said TO BE EDUCATED DOESN'T COUNT AS BEING LITERATE.. SO MANY EDUCATED ILLITERATE IN NIGERIA
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by GentleYoung(m): 10:49pm On Feb 04, 2015
Akpan107:
I just feel it will be waste of time to start reading all that...

GEJ is what everybody want in Nigeria!
Febuhari 14 ur eyes will open
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by johnnyblakes(m): 10:58pm On Feb 04, 2015
WinsomeX:
[size=16pt]OPEN LETTER TO PROF YEMI OSINBAJO
[/size]
I greet you sir in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I trust God that it is well with you and all of yours. I, along with other Nigerians, came into this new week - a week preceding the coming election - with the news that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), along with prominent members of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), held a meeting at the Redeemed Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway over the weekend, with you present, where it was said that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed over Gen. Buhari for the coming elections1. I wish to state categorically in this letter that CAN has not expressed the general opinion of Nigerian Christians. I want to encourage your spirit by saying that even if leading Pastors in this country have chosen Jonathan ahead of Buhari, your principal in the coming elections; there are some Nigerian Christians who disagree with this position. And I want to apologize to you for the trauma that you must have endured this last weekend as you watched men in the same work of Christ along with you, reject you for whatever reasons best known to them. I will start my letter to you by briefly telling you the story of my conversion to Buharism. Then I will try to locate the underlying motive behind the decision of these pastors in rejecting you. Finally, I would encourage you to focus on the task ahead of not just winning this election but also helping to salvage Nigeria from the grip of the lawlessness ones.

My Conversion to Buharism

As a Christian minister, there is an incidence in the bible that I am sure you are familiar with. It is one that involved the bible character Joshua. It reads: "13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."2 Many bible scholars agree that this story is one of many incidences where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in his pre-incarnate form in the Old Testament. Here our Lord gives a relevant instruction to both Joshua and all of us Christians as you face probably the biggest warfare of your life. Joshua waned to know whether Jesus was for Israel or for the enemies. Jesus announces to him that he was for neither. In the process Joshua discovers something that causes him to worship God. I believe what Joshua discovered was that at the point of life's greatest wars, God never appears to take side with any group; rather he stands on the path of truth, verity and justice. And God will side with any group that has these elements present in their make up. I wish to state that God is neither for a Christian candidate in the election nor for a Muslim candidate; he neither for CAN or for a Muslim group; rather God is siding with any group or party that espouses the principles of truth, justice and development this country desperately needs at these times. Any other group that might mouth these tenets but deny them in practice will not have the support of the Almighty God.

These are essentially the sentiments that I came to grasp with when I converted to Buharism. Following Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Save Nigeria Group's endorsement of the candidacy of Gen. Buhari in December 2010, I gave the GMB option a thorough study and came to the conclusion that he was a better presidential candiditate in the 2011 elections. What solidified my position further was the attitude and sentiments expressed by fellow Christians to this decision of mine. It was clear to me that unlike our Lord and Savior who will side only with truth, Christians very readily threw away the Buhari option merely because he was a Muslim. The lie that he would Islamize Nigeria also did not help. On becoming a Buharist, I sat down to understudy the whole foundation of my faith in Christ and I discovered that many of it was faulty. Since then I have had to discard many cherished practices in the Christian faith and even leave the local assembly I had worshipped with for eight years. At the close of the day, Buharism brought me into a firmer and clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure anyone will agree that this is spiritual growth indeed. Buharism showed me that Christianity is not a mere religion but sincere love for human beings, regardless of the faith they profess. It showed me that truth and justice are the foundation on which God's throne was founded. It showed me that a person need not profess Christ to be used by him to better society. It showed me that God could still replay the story of Cyrus in rebuilding a fallen nation of Israel in our present political history. Despite my conversion to Buharism, I remain a Christian. But a Christian with a clearer grasp of the person of Jesus Christ. I am now a Christian that is not bound by mere religious sentiments or parochial mindsets. This is what I believe a lot of Christians become when they come to know and support the candidacy of Gen. Buhari.

The Motive of these Pastors in Rejecting You

About two weeks ago, a news items surfaced from one of the many online news agencies in our country. It said, among other things, that a certain individual had been given large sums of money from the presidency of Nigeria to distribute to leading pastors in this country to garner their support towards the coming presidential elections3. While the veracity of this news item can be disputed, it is yet to be refuted by the individual who was clearly named by the news agency. I hope to show here that the motive in rejecting you at that meeting last weekend may not be too far from this incidence. Jesus taught us that there are two gods men worship: mammon or God4. There are no other options. This challenge is bedeviling the Christian faith at the moment and the end result is that the motives that underlie people's actions generally in life might either be for gain or for God. It is not news anymore that Nigerian Christianity is becoming the leading harbinger of a money gospel that many have very appropriately labeled the prosperity gospel. Neither is it surprising that majority of the men who rejected you in that meeting are the leading propagators of the prosperity message in our country. While the prosperity message has many tenets that one cannot explore at the moment, the key point of it all is money: how to get it and how to retain it. Thus the harbingers of this message follow the gangster rapper's philosophy of life: "Get Money or Die Trying"5. This philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of our Lord that instructed us not to make money our god or that of the apostle Paul that taught that if we have food and clothing we should be content6.

Therefore, when these pastors who espouse a money gospel came face to face with deciding on who to support in the forthcoming elections, it was not difficult for them to decide against a sound and properly laid out manifesto of the APC; neither did they have any qualms in discarding brilliant minds in the person of yourself and other leading APC stalwarts; they could not see any virtue in a leader that has no trace of corruption in his record of public service in the person of Buhari; neither did they see the new opportunity for change that the APC offers. These pastors very easily chose what has from the foundation of their ministries informed every other decision they have made in the past: they simply chose what will bring them money, advantage, acceptance with the powers that be; they fell to the god of mammon and gain that they have all along worshipped.

The Road Ahead

I was part of the people who met with you at the "I Have Decided" rally held at Teslim Balogun Stadium two weekends ago. I had received an email requesting my presence and had to travel from Ibadan on short notice that weekend to see you enumerate in fifteen minutes the vision of the APC for the coming political dispensation. That vision is what I wish you will focus on now because we shall reach that goal as a nation by the help of God. At that meeting, you taught us, Christians and Muslims alike, to join forces together to deliver our streets, neighborhoods and offices to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections. The "Change" fever has since caught everyone and most people I know are ready to vote anything but this present contraption we call a government. I receive calls for money and aids from Pastors in Maiduguri and I realize that what I could actually give them to help salvage that besieged Nigerian city is a new government of Buhari who is known to have tackled insurgency in the past and can do it again.

The road ahead will include a preparedness to enter into the greatest assignment of your life so far, which is to lead the largest black nation on earth. A nation that has been bastardized by years of harlot leaders but which now has the opportunity to have a scion of the late Obafemi Awolowo lead her and help introduce and implement the hundreds of laudable ideas that late sage had written in his books. You have a great opportunity to do well for Nigeria in the coming years. The road ahead will also include forgiveness and a reevaluation of your faith in Christ. When you come to power, like Joseph did, you must forgive your brethren who are at the moment selling you away for a pot of red porridge. You are coming to power to help save Nigeria from imminent doom and this is the path that God has chosen for you. These men, who have rejected you now, will face their shame in the days to come. But it is your duty and mine to forgive them and help them realize the folly of their action. To employ the words of the sitting president when he came to power in 2011, General Buhari and yourself "must hit the ground running" from May 29th onwards.

There is so much to do. There is a nation to save and rebuild. There are insurgent elements all around the country that must be silenced. There is an economy to revamp. There is a nation to help place in the map of advancing countries in the world of science and technology. There is a sea of human capitals among Nigerians youths waiting to be harnessed to turn this nation into a developed country. There is an African continent waiting for Nigeria to offer the lead to development and progress. The list is endless. In short, Nigeria is waiting for the manifestation of a son of God7.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that the aim of this letter, which is to uphold your hand in the events of the coming elections, has been achieved.

I had argued in previous essays that Christians were not participating enough in partisan politics. I envisioned that a day will arise when a position shall be left in public office that a Christian alone could fill and there would hardly be anyone around to fill it. I am happy to see that when that situation arose in the APC, the leadership of the party found an experienced individual in your person to fill the gap. Despite your rejection by an arm of Christian leaders in the country, please be informed that a host of others support you. And more than anything else, the God of heaven is with you8.

Be rest assured that the prayers of God's people are with you and you have our unalloyed support in this mission. The duty of nation building is undoubtedly prominently connected with our responsibility to make disciples of all nations. If Nigeria, our Jerusalem, knows peace and progress; our calling to reach the world with the gospel of Christ will only be made a lot easier. Go forth and make history.

God bless you.

References

1. www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/02/bakare-blasts-can-pfn-for-endorsing-jonathan/
2. Joshua 5:13-15
3. www.saharareporters.com/2015/01/29/kennedy-okpara-distributing-jonathan’s-bribes-pastors
4. Matthew 6:24
5."Get Money or Die Trying" is the name of the hit album by American Gangster Rapper 50cents. One finds that the Prosperity Preachers share similar philosophy with Rappers.
6. 1 Timothy 6:6
7. Romans 8:19
8. Hebrew 13:5
is it not this same osibanjo that raped a lady called beatrice year 2000,when he was at the rccg head quarters and was posted out and he even offered to pay bribe when taken to the station in ebute metta?or has he changed from bin dat man?
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Spaxon(f): 11:00pm On Feb 04, 2015
Failbuhari
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by asiwajumi(m): 11:04pm On Feb 04, 2015
hazyfm1:


You look like them... are they your sisters grin
yes dey are.u like them? Forget say den black o
Re: A Nairalander Open Letter To Prof Yemi Osinbajo by Humblegoodman(m): 11:08pm On Feb 04, 2015
We all know that the position of the Vice president is a second fiddle position which does not have weight or reasonable authority. but the president is bestowed with all the power and authority as enshrined in our constitution. The VP is always at the mercy of the president. whatever the president feels like giving him to do, that's what he will give him. We in the south still support the president to complete his 2nd term before power goes to the north. Prof Osinbajo is too big to play second fiddle to a secondary school drop out who is not even qualified to be in his Law class. we don't want that for our dera Prof. pls. therefore, GEJ till 2019. gaskia. prof and sec school drop out nobe the same pls.

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