Femi Adesina, special adviser to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has shed more light on the relationship between his religious life and working as the image maker of the erstwhile president.
He disclosed that he stopped
attending his Foursquare Gospel Church in Abuja because he grew tired of the
incessant criticism of the former president by his pastor, Rev. Babajide
Olowodola.
He revealed in his new book;
“Working with Buhari: reflections of a special adviser, media and publicity
(2015-2023),” that he had to quit the Asokoro-based church in February 2018
because the pastor thought he could pull Buhari down.
He accused the man of God of
being bias and exhibiting messianic disposition, adding that he urged members
of his church to get their voter card and vote out Buhari.
The former presidential aide
wrote: “I am a member of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, and I have
been since I got converted in 1988. When I went to work in Abuja in 2015, I
began to worship at the Asokoro branch of the Church, pastored by Rev. Babajide
Olowodola.
“A retired very senior civil
servant, Olowodola is a good preacher and pastor. But at a stage, he began to
exhibit some messianic tendencies, in which he believed he would pull down President
Buhari single-handedly.
“Week after week, I heard snide
remarks he made against the President from the pulpit. He would threateningly
ask people to get their PVCS (Permanent Voters Cards) against 2019, and vote
out the incompetent government. I didn’t let it bother me initially.
“Matters however came to a head
in 2018, when Boko Haram abducted the Dapchi girls. I was in church on Sunday,
and there was no name the pastor did not call the President. He even went into
the fallacy of saying more people had been killed in the country since 2015,
than what we lost during the Civil War.
“Recall that Nigeria lost
between two and three million souls during that fratricidal war: He went on and
on that Sunday, but I kept my peace.
“As it turned out, the Dapchi
girls were recovered within the week, save for Leah Sharibu, and few others.
So, the next Sunday, I went to church, waiting to hear what Rev. Olowodola
would say. Not a word! Not even by accident.
“He did not mention the
positive development, thus showing him as unfair and prejudiced. After the
service, I picked my Bible, went home, and never returned to the church.
“I remained a member of
Foursquare Gospel Church, but I could not imagine myself sitting to listen to a
prejudiced preacher. I left the church in February 2018, Rev. Olowodola, who we
were on regular talking terms almost weekly on phone didn’t ask after me.
Neither did I reach out to him.
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