By Pastor Tope Popoola
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Yesterday, a friend forwarded a link to me about a so-called BREAKING NEWS and the subject was about Pst. Tunde Bakare facing humiliation because of a bank loan to build his church THE CITADEL. The “sensational news” was written by a faceless Mujeeb in an equally nondescript upstart online publication that obviously wants so desperately to trend by attempting to pull a good man down. In it, the writer displayed his ignorance of facts as well as the personality of his subject as he went into the Boardroom of Wema Bank to dig up a “decision” taken by the bank to humiliate Pst Bakare over a facility taken to build the church. If he had stopped there, it probably would have been news reporting and that would have been it.
But he didn’t. Throwing professionalism into the thrash can, in gutter language garbed in gaudy colors, he tried to malign the person of Pst Bakare. Haba! Won fi ṣe yin ni? Have we become so warped as a people that we can no longer believe that anyone is capable of being above board in his dealings?
Ordinarily, as I have done in recent times, I would have shrugged and let this matter peter out naturally since it appears in recent times that the only thing that gives some people an orgasm is pastor-trolling.
However, when left unchallenged, evil begins to assume the garb of good and mischief begins to feel like sincerity. It is normal for people in the public space to be talked about – positively and negatively. Critics only feed off the glory of achievers. It is however, the height of foolishness to criticize what you don’t understand.
A few questions for Mujeeb and those who think like him.
1. Which is better, borrowing money for a project or stealing it?
2. When did taking a loan to fund a project become a crime in any economy?
3. When did a transaction between a customer and a bank become “Breaking News”?
I have known Pst Bakare at very close range for a little over 30 years. Like any other man, he is not without his flaws. But when it comes to integrity and being above board in his dealings, that is one Nigerian I would stick my neck for ANY DAY, ANYWHERE and ANYTIME! In all my life on earth, I have not come across a more detailed and meticulous human being. His thoroughness amazes me. Apart from my relationship with God and a straight-and-narrow upbringing, my relationship with Pst B has singularly influenced my conduct over several years. From Christ, him and my earthly parents, I learnt that it is possible to live an astute life in a crooked world. The standards that he holds himself to are sometimes scary to me!!!
I wonder what Mujeeb would have written if Bakare had taken the oil well or the various other enticements that were offered to him by government. We would have been regaled by how The CITADEL was financed by sleaze and grease! The “BREAKING NEWS” would have broken the internet by now.
If Mujeeb had done the necessary homework he would have known that the cleric had addressed this issue in a comprehensive interview with THIS DAY newspaper on 25th October 2021, two clear months before this “Breaking News”! If you sincerely want to know, Google is your friend. I just did my homework. Do yours too.
If you have joined in snide comments against the cleric over the matter, may God forgive you and may you not become cannon fodder in an issue that puts you in the line of condemnation when you eventually discover that a troll only trended at your expense!
Next base Mujeeb, next base…
