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Tunde Thomas
National Coordinator, Pastors for Change, Bishop Kayode Williams, in this interview advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to waste time in constituting his cabinet.
You mobilised for President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu during the elections. But some groups frowned at your action saying that a Christian leader should not be seen to be so deeply involved in partisan politics. What is your reaction?
What people should realise is that, by calling, I’m a minister of God. I’m not a politician, and I’m apolitical. But as a cleric who is always led by the spirit of God whatever I do I’m always led by the spirit of God. I act on divine revelation. Then before I go further, I need to correct the wrong notion that a Christian can’t be involved in politics. Nothing stops a Christian from taking part in politics but what matters most is that such Christians taking part in politics must always strive to be good ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Whatever Christians do in politics, they must always do it to the glory of God. They must strive to be good role models. Christians are also citizens of Nigeria, so nothing stops them from being part of the governance. They must join hands with others to play their own role in making Nigeria a great nation. For the sake of setting the records straight, it was not even in 2019 that our group, Pastors For Integrity started appealing to Nigerians to vote for and support President Muhammadu Buhari. It started months before the 2015 general election when during a prayer programme I had at Ikoyi prayer Mountain in Osun State, God revealed to me that President Buhari would defeat the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, and that I should announce it to the whole world, and this I did calling on Nigerians to vote for him, and Buhari won the election. The same divine message came in 2019 that I should tell Nigerians that Buhari and Sanwo-Olu should be voted for because God revealed to me that He want to use both of them to take Nigeria, and Lagos State to the next level respectively. Whatever I do, I do in obedience to God’s voice.
Now that President Buhari and Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu have won, what are your expectations from them in terms of delivery of dividends of democracy?
Buhari’s victory has shown that God will always be God and that His words will always come to pass. But now that the president has been re-elected for a second term, he should consolidate on the good work he has been doing since he was voted into office in 2015. He should hit the ground running immediately after his inauguration for a second term on May 29. Unlike what happened during his first term, he should not delay in forming his cabinet. He should make sure that he assembles a dynamic team that will help him quickly realise his goal of taking Nigeria to the next level. Nothing stops him from retaining the services of those ministers he considers hardworking in the present cabinet. His cabinet can be a mix of some of the current ministers with the crop of new versatile minds who will share the same vision with him.
What about Sanwo-Olu?
For Sanwo-Olu, luckily, the APC national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu has laid a solid foundation. Since then, Lagos State has become a role model for other states in the country. It is as a result of this that the state has been dubbed the centre of excellence. I believe Sanwo-Olu will also excel. During the campaign when our group was organising prayers session for him across the state we discovered that apart from possessing the qualities required to deliver, Sanwo-Olu is also lucky to have some experienced men on his side, people like his campaign DG , Mr. Tayo Ayinde, his deputy, Cardinal James Omolaja Odunmbaku, and others. They are all workaholic. Nigerians must also realise that Sanwo-Olu has been in the system as a Special Adviser, Commissioner, and his running mate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat is also not a neophyte. He is also a seasoned technocrat. I believe the two of them will take Lagos State to the next level.
How would you assess the on-going anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari?
The president is not faring badly. Buhari is on the right track in this war against corruption. Whether some Nigerians want to accept it or not Buhari is making a steady progress in the corruption war. The era of impunity is over. We are all living witnesses to how bad the situation was before Buhari became the president. Then corruption had become the order of the day. Insecurity was another problem then as Boko Haram was having a field day bombing churches, motor parks, mosques, places of worship. Even Police headquarters in Abuja was bombed. But today things have changed. Things are looking up in Nigeria. Buhari is making a big difference. I implore Nigerians to support him .Buhari is determined to restore Nigeria’s lost glory.
At a time you were involved with Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, the Osile-Oke-Ona Egba, Chief Afe Babalola, and some other eminent Nigerians through an NGO,PREMI ,and you were then canvassing reforms of Nigerian Prisons but nothing is being heard about the campaign again, what happened?
The campaign is still on, and we are still trying our best to get the nation’s political leaders at all levels to support the project. The state of prisons across the country is deplorable. It is very terrible and that’s why many prison inmates are dying daily. Congestion is killing many of them on daily basis; they are being infected with contagious diseases like tuberculosis. They don’t have access to good medical care. What we need to realise is that prisons are supposed to be reformatory centre. Prison inmates deserve better treatment. It is unfortunate that our leaders chose to neglect prisons. It is only when some of them get detained in the prisons and are now exposed to the deplorable conditions there that they start complaining or start begging some prison officials to look for ways to make some places a bit comfortable for them in the prisons. It is because the situation in the prisons is so deplorable that some politicians use to die there, some will become blind, and some will get contagious diseases. All these had happened to some politicians in the past, and it is still going to happen to some of them unless they make the prisons habitable and decent.
If politicians are wise, they will take good care of our prisons because they are in leadership positions today but they can find themselves in the prison anytime like some of them are there now.
