In a powerful and heartfelt open letter addressed to Pastor Tunde Bakare, renowned Nigerian political commentator and patriot, Dr. Uche Diala has expressed both admiration and urgency in response to Bakare’s recent “State of the Nation Address” delivered on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.
Dr. Diala, who praised Bakare’s speech as a masterclass in clarity, precision, and solution-driven analysis, lauded the clergyman’s ability to “triage, dissect, and uncouple the situation of our nation with near surgical precision,” describing it as “something that every Nigerian, especially younger generations of Nigerians, need to learn and emulate.”
However, Dr. Diala also expressed a note of dismay, stating, “There is only one point of sadness for me. That is, the unfortunate reality that you may be 'speaking to the hand' as far as those who currently have the position, responsibility and authority to run with the fantastic ideas you so seminally and patriotically submitted.”
Referencing a piece he wrote earlier in April titled "ROAD TO THE VERDICT: SOME TRUTHS ARE SACROSANCT," Dr. Diala echoed some of Bakare’s criticisms of the current administration. He attributed the nation’s ongoing economic and policy woes to early missteps, noting:
“Majority, if not all the challenges… we are faced with today as a nation are direct consequences of 3-5 key policy decisions and actions taken by the current administration within its first 100 days… all that the administration has been trying to do since then… is struggling to manage those consequences, sadly to no real success and at grave costs and pains to Nigerians, unfortunately and avoidably so.”
He used a metaphor to describe the situation:
“If you are embarked on a journey to your home town and you mistakenly detour to a wrong route… you will continue going the wrong way and will never arrive… It is worse if you are too self-conceited, egoistic and arrogant to even notice or hear other people's advice… That is exactly the case with the current administration and our dear nation. Too much motion and noise but little or no movement in the right direction, except digging deeper and further.”
Despite his personal support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 elections, Dr. Diala candidly stated:
“It is always painful to accept that the one you love… has derailed or that a vehicle you boarded… is clearly headed in the wrong direction… In such a situation, a wise person alights at the nearest safe bus stop and boards a new bus… to continue on the journey.”
He therefore issued a humble but urgent appeal to Pastor Bakare:
“I humbly and responsibly appeal to you to join forces with your progressive associate, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and other like-minded intellectual and progressive minds in Nigeria to chart a different path forward for our nation, come the next bus stop at 2027.”
Dr. Diala added that the nation is in “dire need of a Joseph,” and the time to begin the work is now. He encouraged Bakare and others not to give up despite past attempts, affirming:
“One embarked on a journey of destiny and survival does not give up until one reaches the desired destination or one dies trying.”
In closing, he assured Bakare of his unwavering support, saying:
“You, Mallam El-Rufai and the rest can be assured of my support and that of millions of other patriotic Nigerian citizens.”