The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, describing him as incompetent and arguing that Nigeria has yet to fully experience the benefits of independence because of poor governance.
Ayodele made the remarks in a statement issued on Sunday by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, in which he said Nigeria’s independence had been overshadowed by hardship, hunger and stagnation.
The cleric accused the government of spending too much time complaining about the country’s challenges instead of providing solutions.
“We are not fully independent. It’s an independence of stagnancy and hunger. Tinubu isn’t competent to be a president, so there is no way the people will enjoy independence,” Ayodele said.
“Our government complains a lot when they are supposed to provide solutions. This independence is meant for rethinking, but the president isn’t ready for it.”
Ayodele also questioned the level of freedom Nigerians currently enjoy, arguing that the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket adopted by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) did not represent genuine freedom.
“There is no freedom in whatever we are doing; a Muslim-Muslim ticket is no independence, it’s bondage,” he said.
According to him, restructuring remains necessary for Nigeria to achieve what he described as meaningful independence, although he claimed the government was not prepared to engage in such a process.
“The only way we can have independence is through restructuring, but the government isn’t ready for that. In terms of infrastructure, health, economy, and other indices, it’s simply bondage,” he said.
The cleric further accused the government of being selfish and careless, arguing that its alleged failure to address the country’s structural challenges had prevented Nigerians from enjoying the full benefits of independence.
“The government is selfish and careless; it is not a government that is arranged or organised, and that is why we are still in the process of independence; we have not fully attained it,” Ayodele said.
He also expressed concern over what he described as the absence of a clear plan for Nigeria’s younger generation.
Ayodele maintained that prayers alone could not resolve the country’s problems without effective leadership, arguing that poor governance had undermined Nigeria’s progress since independence.
“There is no amount of prayers that can help us if we have bad leadership; our independence has been commercialised and sabotaged. This is a country with no plans for the younger generation,” he said.
