Pastor Tunde Bakare
of the Latter Rain
Assembly has
blamed Former
President of Nigeria,
Olusegun Obasanjo
for the sorry state of
student unionism in
the country today.
Pastor Tunde Bakare
made this known on
Monday at while
delivering a paper titled:
“Good Governance:
Sustainability of
Democracy, the Role of
Students in the
Forthcoming General
Election,” in Abeokuta,
the Ogun State to mark
the Students
International Day,
Pastor Bakare, the
Convener of the Save
Nigeria Group, SNG
stated how President
Obasanjo when he was
military head of state
carved his name on
marble as a villain of
democracy in 1978,
Premium Times report.
“General Olusegun
Obasanjo’s government
ordered the brutal
suppression of that
protest. Live bullets
were unleashed on
protesting students,”
he said.
“As we proceeded
outside University of
Lagos main gate, I
narrowly escaped death
as Akintunde Ojo, the
young man standing
just beside me, was
gunned down. Through
that incident, Obasanjo
carved his name on
marble as a villain of
democracy.”
“I did not mince words
when opportunity
presented itself in
November of 1978
when I pointed to his
face and said this
government possesses
power without
compassion, might
without morality and
strength without
sight”.
Meanwhile Pastor
Bakare who attributed
the hijacking of
students unionism by
those he described as
“never do wells” said:
“Nevertheless, student
unionism in Nigeria
today is in a sorry
state. Not only has it
fallen from its pinnacle
of intellectual
doggedness and
ideological astuteness,
it has lost its activist
steam and has become
a mere appendage of
ruling political parties
and a tool in the hands
of corrupt politicians.”
‘The apotheosis of the
perfidious degeneration
of student unionism
occurred in 2005 when
NANS decorated General
Obasanjo as a
‘Defender of
Democracy’; yes the
same Obasanjo who
masterminded the
brutal repression of
unarmed students who
were merely registering
their displeasure over
hike in fees.”
“In essence, Obasanjo
killed student unionism
in Nigeria. As a military
Head of State, he killed
NUNS by brutal
repression and
proscription. When
Obasanjo returned as
civilian president, he
killed NANS and made it
a shadow of itself,
doing so this time by
corrupting the body,”
Pastor Bakare said.
He urged the student
body to return to those
glory days saying:
“Then you must rid
yourselves of cultism
and other self-
destructive tendencies
and take back student
unionism from
hoodlums and
charlatans” .
“You must restore
student unionism to its
glory days. After
undergoing such rebirth,
the student union must
become a shining light
to the dark polity.”
Meanwhile it has been
reported that Pastor
Tunde Bakare has
accused former
President of Nigeria,
