THE General Overseer of the Later Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, yesterday urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari in his effort to deal with the myriad of socio-economic problems in the country. Any change for good normally takes time, Bakare, running mate to Buhari in the 2011 presidential election, told State House correspondents after a 45- minute meeting with the President.
“I will like to appeal to all Nigerians that we should just excise a bit of patience,” he said. “This change will not become chain that will tie all of us down. Change for good takes time and we should just exercise a little bit more of patience. “We trust that government is listening and the leaders are listening too and they will respond to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.” Launching into an analogy, he said: “When you are driving in a wrong direction, for example, you are going to Ibadan and you face Badagry and you get to Cotonou and you realize you have gone in the wrong direction for too long a time, then you turn back and make a U-turn, there will be some suffering you have to go through.
“Pain is part of gain. No pain, no gain. The years of wastage and all that we have done wrong has finally caught up with us. All we are praying for is wisdom for this government to do things right and to do the right things.” He said that it is too early to begin to judge the performance of the administration. “If there is anything I know about Mr. President, it is that he has a good heart. He loves this country and he wants the country to run well. But it takes time.
I Change for good takes time, Bakare at Aso Villa •Urges Nigerians to be patient with Buhari Augustine EHIKIOYA, Abuja know we are all impatient and in a hurry and I trust we will come out of the woods,” he added. Bakare declined to speak on the budget padding controversy at the National Assembly, claiming that he was still studying the allegations. “I just returned to the country. I am reading about it. I will make my decision when I have checked both sides.
And I will definitely speak on that,” he said. Asked if a cabinet reshuffle was not desirable, Bakare said it was up to the President to do that if and when necessary. “He knows what he has given them. For example, I have not given any appointment to anyone so I can’t judge their performance. But if there are yardsticks and standards given to them and if they have performed below the par, definitely, the president would not mind at the right time to do those things.” On why he visited the Villa, he said: “I came to see the President and he is doing very well health wise. That’s all I came to do.”