Bakare on Buhari’s health: The next in line does not always become king

Tunde Bakare, senior pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, says the next in line to the throne does not become king in all cases.

Speaking on ‘The birth pangs of a new Nigeria’ at his church auditorium on Sunday, Bakare said those attempting to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari are doing all they could to outperform him.

He said such people “are full of show-offs in their bid to register star performances and outdo their benefactors”.

Drawing parallels between Buhari and King David in the Bible, Bakare said the king may be old and cold, but the king is not dead, and residual power belongs to him.

He said those acting in the corridor of power could keep acting but power still lies with the king to appoint who will succeed him.

“The next in line does not translate automatically to the next king. I kept quiet since because I know the day I will speak, all arrows will begin to fly, but guess what? I’m beyond the enemy’s reach,” he said.

“What is happening in Nigeria is not new, it’s not strange, but if you don’t have the wherewithal, and your wife is in intense labour, you will panic.

“What is happening in this nation is not new, it’s not strange; our nation is going through birth pangs, Nigeria is in intense labour.”

He said there are two types of labour; painful or painless labour.

He added that protracted labour is fatal, whether painless or painful, stating that “it appears that the Nigeria of our dreams is in protracted labour”.

Bakare said a cursory look at Nigeria will make anyone lose hope in the country’s future.

“Personally, I have been bombarded with requests for interview by the organised press for a very long time now, regarding the situation of the country but I have granted none. I hope the message today will answer their questions and allay all our collective doubts and fears.

“Our president who I believe is on the path to sure recovery has recently been serving the nation he loves with diminishing energy due to his ill health.

“As a result of the president’s present condition, all over the land, Absaloms and Adonijahs are springing up. Again this is not unusual.”

Bakare said the Absaloms, who seek to overthrow the king, “embraces everyone” and “warm their hearts into the minds of the simple and gullible till they steal the heart of all men”.

He added that people like Absalom do not mind if they plunge the nation into a civil war, adding that he “hopes that those within the polity with inordinate ambitions to take over power, fully, understand that all that will be left to their name at the end is a monument and not a movement”.

Bakare said as for the Adonjahs, they confuse birthright with leadership rights, and “assume that the next in line is automatically the next king, whenever the current king is no more”.

He said they forget “one major fact, that the king may be very cold, may be very old and in need of warmth, but the king is not yet dead”.

“You don’t know what prayer requests are flying in this country, left, right and centre…people who do not learn from history will repeat the blunders of history till they themselves become history.”

The preacher said Adonijah is more strategic than Absalom, that he connects himself with “Emirs, Kabiyesis, Obis…the chief of army staff,” but often has a hole  in his armour.

“The king may be cold, the king may need warmth, but the final  authority is still in his hands. All the actors in the corridor of power can keep acting, but the residual power is still in the man who is cold,” he said.

Bakare said he is outrightly against a military coup, adding that he would take to the streets if the military seize power in Nigeria.

He told civilians in power, that what makes sense is not always God’s plan.