When it
comes to teaching the words of the scripture today, Pastor Tunde Bakare, no
doubt is one Nigerian cleric that has used the Word of God to change lots of
lives.
The
celebrated pastor, teacher, mentor and human right activist who presides over
Latter Rain Assembly will clock the enviable age of 60 on 11th November, 2014.
In celebrating the milestone age, he had an exclusive chat with TheNEWS
Magazine of 27th October, 2014, and he spoke succinctly on the journey of his
life. Excerpts…
You worked
with Gani Fawehinmi and later moved on to establish El-Shaddai Chambers, what
happened?
No, I didn’t
leave to form El-Shaddai Chambers. I left Chief Gani Fawehinmi and went
straight to Chief Rotimi Willaims. I had been part of Gani Fawehinmi’s Chambers
since my university days when I was helping him with Law Reports and working at
night with Oasis Hotel in Akoka area of Lagos. The Oasis Hotel woman came here
for my 40th birthday. Chief Gani Fawehinmi treated me like his own relation and
he gave a testimony on my 50th birthday, where he called me a hardworking
person and that I have an unquenchable hunger for research. If you see the
first copy of Nigerian Law Report, my name was printed there because I went to
England to do it for him. However, we were going to Calabar to do a case. He
was in the business class of the plane and I was in the economy and he called
me by my Muslim name, Sindiku, He said, ‘I’m thinking of marrying a second wife
because I want someone very educated as my first wife is not too educated. I
want someone who can help co-ordinate my level of activities.’ Then I told him,
‘But sir, I heard from you that you stopped your wife’s education when she was
in her A-level because you wanted her to marry you. It would now be injustice
to marry another wife because of (her level of) education. Please send her back
to school.’
He said,
‘I’m not asking for your advice; I am just informing you, and I looked into his
eyes and said, ‘Sorry sir, the day the woman comes in is the day I would
leave.’ He joked and called me, ‘Alagidi Talaka’ (Stubborn poor man).’ That
particular year, I was working in the chambers, he had just paid me my salary:
a cheque for #400, and said the woman would be coming later in the day. And I
said okay. I took the cheque, enveloped it with a letter of resignation, and
told him the cheque was my monthly pay in leu of notice. I had no dime in my
pocket when I left him that year. I trekked out of the place and never
returned. When he died, the wife saw me and told me she heard the story. In
fact, Chief Fawehinmi told my wife inside the plane one day. We entered the
first class section; I saw him and we exchanged greetings. He stood up and
said, “Your husband is a principled man. Many of my children are Christians
today. I watch him on television because I know he talks the talk and walks the
walk.’
I left him
to join Chief Rotimi’s Chambers. I took the only briefcase I had and when I got
to Rotimi Williams, I told him I wanted an opportunity to serve him and he told
he was not the one in charge of employment, that it was Chief Bayo Kehinde, who
was also a SAN. His twin brother was the then Auditor-General of the
Federation. I waited for him to come back and I said to him when he arrived,
“Chief Rotimi Williams said you should give me a job.” I didn’t lie. Chief
Williams said Chief Kehinde was the one in charge and I told him. He gave me a
form to fill; I filled it and my salary was now N510, so I was excited with the
increase. On Friday, Chief Williams saw me at the black table and asked, ‘Who
are you?’ and Chief Kehinde looked at him and said, ‘The man you asked me to
give a job.’ He said, ‘Did I tell you that?’ and I said, ‘Sir I came here in
search of a job and you said Chief Bayo Kehinde is the one in charge. So I
assumed you asked me to go and meet him.’ Then he said, ‘You’ve got the job.’
I worked in
the chambers for a while, then I got another job in a very interesting manner.
I was to represent the Defendant and F.O Bakare was defending the plaintiff.
And we ended up in Justice Bakare’s court and he said, ‘F.O Bakare appears for
the plaintiff’ and I stood up and was defending the defendant and Justice
Bakare said, ‘Bakare against Bakare and to be judged by Bakare! And from the
way I handled the case, F.O Bakare said he liked my spirit; that we should work
together. So he increased my salary from N510 to N610. I left F.O Bakare’s
Chamber in September 1984, though I would not want to state the issue involved,
but I preached the gospel and it backfired on me. He was supposed to give me a
car loan for my wedding, but he terminated my appointment and that pushed me to
my destiny.
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