The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Wednesday, berated Nigerian politicians for living large and asking the rest of the citizens to make sacrifices.
Bakare who contested for the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket before the 2023 elections, said this at the Wilson and Yinka Badejo Memorial Lecture 2024 held in Lagos.
Speaking on the recent hunger protests in the country, he stressed the need for dialogue rather than confrontation to resolve the challenges facing the country.
His wprds: “All parties must approach the dialogue table with open minds, effective communication and empathy. Open and honest communication helps to establish transparency, making intentions and actions clear.
“When leaders communicate transparently, they demonstrate that they have nothing to hide, and that builds trust.
“Empathy is a bedrock of dialogue. It requires us to see beyond our own perspective and seek to comprehend the experiences of others. The ability to feel with others, to share in their joys and sorrows.
“It also means sitting where the people sit, as in the book of Ezekiel – feeling their pains and sharing their burdens. An empathetic leader does not feed fat while asking the people to tighten their belts. Nigerian political leaders have mostly not demonstrated empathy. Otherwise, how do you live so large while your people are ravished in (penury)?”
According to the cleric, hunger knows no religion, tribe or political party.
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