Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Senior Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly Tunde Bakare has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure successful succession and build a strong legacy.
He said the President should use the three remaining years of his administration to drive strong leadership and strengthen government institutions.
Speaking on Sunday in Lagos, on state of the nation broadcast with the theme: “Unveiling the true enemies of Nigeria” said the nation’s true enemies are found at the local, state and federal levels.
Bakare was the running mate to Buhari during the 2011 Presidential election under Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform.
“I believe it is no coincidence that President Buhari has the privilege of presiding over the nation at the turn of the decade, one hundred years from the rise of Nigerian nationalism. I believe a rare opportunity has been thrust upon his shoulders to make history in the service of the fatherland.
“Therefore, in the first three years of this decade, which coincide with the last three years of his administration, the president must take the lead in building a legacy that will facilitate the emergence of the Nigeria of our dreams,” he stated.
The cleric, who identified the threat to the nation, said the true enemies of Nigeria are Judges who pervert justice and auction judgement to the highest bidder.
He added that legislators who rob the nation under the guise of constituency projects and are quick to pass laws that undermine national freedoms were part of the problem.
Bakare added: “At the local level of government, the true enemies of our nation are those agents of oppression who place excruciating multiple tax burdens on often defenceless Nigerians, the petty traders, Okada riders, Keke drivers, bricklayers, pepper grinders, carpenters.
“Others are vulcanisers, mechanics and other artisans – not because they want to amass the proceeds for the benefit of the people, but because they must make remittances to their morally bankrupt political benefactors. These are the true enemies of Nigeria.
“At the state level, the true enemies of Nigeria are those state governments that feed fat on unaccounted-for security votes; those who deploy the paraphernalia of office in their selfish interests rather than in the service of the people.
“Those who connive with zonal political oligarchs to personalise and privatise the state; those who deploy the force of state to quell dissent; those who paralyse local governance structures in such a manner that discredits genuine arguments for restructuring and devolution of powers.
“Those who give critics an excuse to postulate that if state governments are already abusing the little power they currently wield, what will they do if we devolve yet more powers to them? These power-drunk state officials are the true enemies of Nigeria.
“At the zonal level, the enemies of Nigeria are those who have perverted their influence and turned the states within their zones of influence into personal estates. They are the political puppeteers who rig the system to enthrone their stooges and use them to corner resources and opportunities.
“They are the political bandits and pseudo democrats who are maniacal in merchandising the will of the people, from masterminding vote-buying to engineering seemingly spontaneous outbreaks of political violence. These are the true enemies of Nigeria.
“At the Federal level, the true enemies of Nigeria are in every arm of government. In the judiciary, they are judges who pervert justice and auction judgement to the highest bidder.
“In the legislature, they are those legislators who rob the nation “under the guise of constituency projects” and are quick to pass laws that undermine our national freedoms, thereby threatening our national stability.
“In the executive arm of government, the enemies of our nation are those who deploy the machinery of state against hapless citizens; those who serve self rather than the people; adversaries clad as advisers who could inadvertently destroy the legacy of any president through fabricated facts and contrived counsel in a bid to protect their political careers”
“These are the true enemies that we must stand up against, not the angry young fellow who throws salvos at Mr President hoping to get a few retweets, not the journalist who stares the government squarely in the face, and certainly not the dissenting voice in the midst.
“Therefore, I state without equivocation that these young Nigerians who have found their voices on social media are not the enemies of Nigeria. They are the hope of our nation.
“They are simply expressing the character of our DNA and the virtues that gave us independence – virtues such as the audacity to assemble as communities, including online communities, and to voice their opposition to corruption and oppression.
“I assure you that if social media had been invented in the days of our founding fathers, they would have deployed the tool in fighting the colonialists.
“Those sectional groups calling for better representation in the context of true federalism, and for self determination within the provisions of international law, are not the enemies of Nigeria”, Bakare said.
