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.

TheCable