Pastor Tunde Bakare of Citadel Global Community Church has condemned the ‘emi lokan’ slogan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.
Pastor Bakare said the slogan is bad and may lead to a potential dictatorship.
In an outburst in June 2022, before APC primaries, Tinubu, said “e gbe kini yi wa emi lokan,” a Yoruba statement translating to “bring this thing, it is my turn” referring to Nigeria’s presidency.
Tinubu used the expression to justify his entitlement to the APC presidential ticket, having helped others, including President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Dapo Abiodun achieve their present political offices.
In his Sunday sermon, however, Bakare said, “This ’emi lo kan’ politics that insists on one’s turn, even if circumstances do not align, is bad. Politics of entitlement also manifests as perennial candidacy, not with the intent to serve, but to gratify long-time personal ambitions.”
He also pointed out that it could manifest as “insistence on a given political office as a reward for what one considers a lifetime of sacrifice to the nation,” noting that “politicians with a sense of entitlement evade political debates; they do not consider it imperative to communicate with the electorate.”
READ ALSO: Bolanle Raheem: Suspected Killer Cop Drambi Vandi Pleads Not Guilty
“Entitlement politics will breed an imperial presidency that is distant from the people and has no sense of responsibility or accountability to the people. Such imperial governance will slide towards dictatorship and will be intolerant of dissent,” Bakare added.
