Bolaji Abdullahi launches book on how Jonathan won, lost today in Abuja

Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has narrated an encounter which the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan had with a cleric before the 2015 elections.
Abdullahi narrated that the cleric, whose name he did not reveal advised Jonathan to pull down the “altar of Baal” in his government but the former President failed to adhere to instruction.
The APC spokesperson stated this in his upcoming book: “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria.”
Abdullahi, who served as minister under Jonathan from 2011-2014, wrote: “One day, a man of God went to see President Jonathan. God had sent him to minister to the president, he said. He opened to the book of Judges and read to him from 6:11. The president followed from his own copy of the Bible.
“That night the Lord said to him (Gideon), “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order…
“Mr. President, God has put you here for a purpose. But you cannot fulfil the purpose, unless you “pull down the altar of Baal” around you first. There are some things you need to deal with before you can achieve your vision for Nigeria,’ the man of God concluded.
“Jonathan agreed. He had also never ceased to wonder at his own incredible story. How from a humble lecturer, he became a deputy governor and then governor. Without having to move a muscle, he became vice president and then the president of the most powerful black nation on earth. Within a decade, he had come a long way in such a short time. ‘You are right. Even me I know. But I don’t know what shrine God wants me to demolish.
“The man of God closed his Bible and stood up. He had been a little taken aback by Jonathan’s code switching. He was talking about altar; the president was talking about shrine. ‘Mr. President, if you still don’t know what altar to pull down, then you need to ask God.”
“We may never know if President Jonathan spoke to God as advised, and if indeed God told him what to do. But as the Archbishop of Canterbury Walter Reynolds preached in 1327, ‘Vox populi, vox Dei’. Almost all through his tenure, Nigerians had made it known, loud and clear, which altar they wanted him to pull down – the altar of corruption.”
In a related development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who was a former minister of Sports under the administration of president Jonathan, will launch his book; ‘On A Platter Of Gold: How Jonathan Won And Lost Nigeria,’ 10 am, today at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre in Abuja.
The book launch will attract frontline political actors, journalists, academia and a cross-section of Nigerians and the international community.
The Chief Host and Host of the book launch are the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed respectively. The Chairman of the occasion is the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima and the Father of the day is the Emir of Ilorin, HRH. Dr. Ibrahim Gambari.
The Chief Presenter is CEO and publisher of Ovation International, Chief Dele Momodu while the book reviewers are Prof. Adigun Agbaje and Azubuike Ishiekwene.
The book will go on sale nationwide after the launch.
According to Bolaji Abdullahi, the book is an exclusive account of the “making and the unmaking” of Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The book gives revelations of the intrigues that surrounded the 2015 presidential election and its aftermath.