Why I endorse Buhari/Osinbajo ticket’’ (Part 2) By Pastor Sunday Adelaja Dear friends, This article is divided into six parts for easier reading and digestion. Part 1. The Professor Yemi Osinbajo that I know Part 2. My main reason for endorsing Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is because of my personal encounter with President Goodluck Jonathan Part 3. Is Gen. Buhari an Islamic fundamentalist? Part 4. Why I believe President Jonathan is far more a fundamentalist than Gen. Buhari Part 5. ‘‘Pastor Sunday how dare you support a Muslim candidate’’? Part 6. Reasons why I cannot support Jonathan/sambo ticket. Introduction: To paraphrase the great quotation ‘Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is the truth’ by Isaac newton. In my words, I will say ‘Jonathan is my president, Goodluck is a Christian, but Nigeria is my greatest love’ I would like to appeal to everyone that will see this article not to be in a hurry to ‘stone’ me, especially before you finish reading it. This is because I have seen a lot of emotions, sentiments and prejudices from the comments that were written under the article I had earlier posted on my Facebook page. As a matter of fact, I was not planning to make my position a public knowledge, but seeing the reactions and the emotions that any form of support for Buhari/Osinbajo generates among Christians, I decided to make my position known at least to those who see me as a leader in the body of Christ. Mainly because of the above mentioned quotation that to me the destiny and future of Nigeria is paramount to any sentiment. I therefore believe that I owe it to my friends, colleges and posterity to explain why I believe the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is the life line to the Nigerian nation right now. Of course you all have the right to your opinions and you have the right to agree or disagree, but I think it would be fair for you to hear my point of view. From the comments on my Facebook, I can envisage disappointment and disillusionment in a lot of my followers as a result of my position, I might actually be losing some friends and fans as a result but let’s not forget the words of Isaac newton ‘Plato is my friend— Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is the truth’ . Therefore I say ‘Jonathan is my president, Goodluck is a Christian, but Nigeria is my greatest love’ Here we are continuing with part 2 of this 6 part article. Part 2. My main reason for endorsing Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is because of my personal encounter with President Goodluck Jonathan. Ecclesiastics 10:16-17 16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning! 17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time— For strength and not for drunkenness ‘Plato is my friend— Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is the truth’. Therefore I say ‘Jonathan is my president, Goodluck is a Christian, but Nigeria is my greatest love’ I have personally met President Jonathan on two occasions while he was the vice-president of the country. There is no doubt that President Jonathan is a good and gentle man from my observations, but a good man does not always translate to a good or efficient leader. I have told everybody that cares to listen in my private conversations with my friends since 2007 that even though God must have given President Jonathan the chance to become Nigeria’s president, he is not capable. He would need a team of super-efficient leaders to make his government work, otherwise on his own he is simply not in the consciousness of what good governance is all about. My first major concern during our meetings is that He was always in a ‘sleep mode’. I don’t think he is ever fully awake and this was my impression on both occasions. He was always looking lost, sleepy and even out rightly dozing off during conversations, at least during my meetings with him. Please bare in mind that in both cases I came with teams of leaders from different countries such as: USA, Sweden, Spain, Ukraine, Nigeria, yet my vice-president was listening to us half asleep. Now friends, I am not such that would be quick to judge, so I tried to give him the benefit of a doubt. However, my subsequent observations of President Jonathan through videos and photographs of his meetings, confirm the obvious, that this man is never in the ‘here and now’. If you compare my experience with President Jonathan to my meetings with President Olusegun Obasanjo. President Obasanjo wasn’t just awake, in the ‘here and now’. He was always at alert, sharp, responsive and more so, he would immediately pick up his phone calling ministers and assistants to act on the proposals and suggestions that we were bringing to the table. President Jonathan in my opinion Lacks decision making skills. I brought in some proposals that could earn the nation of Nigeria and every state of the federation investments worth millions of US dollars yearly. I was expecting him to respond with action like President Obasanjo did, instead his response was passive, he suggested that I should go to the states and meet with the Governors, which I had done, but the foreign philanthropists needed assurance from a top government official. But, here was my vice president not acting and not been proactive in any way. The foreigners who were with me had to leave Nigeria disappointed with the lack of interest and inactive position of the second citizen of the country. I am sure some people will be reading this thinking I was offended and had some business interests. No! These were not business interests at all, these were projects concerning humanitarian aids for the poor, disabled and elderly. These were projects to help train our police force in values and integrity. These were projects to equip our states with technical schools and colleges. I had nothing really to gain from it whatsoever. They were supposed to be Christian donations to the people of Nigeria as a whole. The point I am making is about the necessary skills and sharpness required of the leader of a nation to take decisive decisions. His ability to make things happen. We are talking about his ability to provide solutions. These are things that make great leaders. More so, when you are the president of a nation you surely need these qualities. TO BE CONTINUED….
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:25:58 +0000