Dr. Tunde Bakare

Dr. Babatunde Gbolahan Bakare is a lawyer, public intellectual, pastor, institutional builder, and governance reform advocate whose work spans law, ministry, politics, civic mobilisation, business, and public leadership development.

Born in Abeokuta, Ogun State, he was educated at the University of Lagos, where he studied Law before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981 and began his legal career under some of Nigeria’s most distinguished advocates, including Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Chief Rotimi Williams, before starting his own law firm, Tunde Bakare and Co. His early exposure to constitutional law, judicial advocacy, and public-interest litigation shaped his enduring interest in institutional accountability and the rule of law.

In 1988, at the height of his legal career, Dr Bakare transitioned into full-time Christian ministry. In 1989, he founded the Latter Rain Assembly, now known as Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), where he serves as Serving Overseer. His ministry has been widely recognised for its emphasis on nation-building, ethical leadership, social justice, and civic responsibility. Over the decades, his pulpit has also functioned as a platform for engaging national questions of governance, democracy, and institutional reform.

Dr Bakare’s involvement in Nigeria’s socio-political development has been both intellectual and participatory. He has consistently contributed to public discourse on constitutional reform, restructuring, anti-corruption systems, national reconciliation, economic transformation, and youth leadership. In 2011, he served as a vice-presidential candidate in Nigeria’s general elections, and he later played a visible role in coalition-building efforts that reshaped the country’s political landscape. In 2014, he was a delegate to the National Conference, where he contributed to deliberations on national integration and constitutional restructuring. As a presidential aspirant in 2022, he unveiled a four-point national strategic blueprint hinged on peace, progress, prosperity and possibilities.

Aside from active politics, Bakare has also founded and led institutions committed to policy entrepreneurship and civic advocacy. In 2007, he founded the International Centre for Reconstruction and Development (ICRD), a governance-focused think tank dedicated to socio-political and economic reform. He also convened the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), a civic coalition that mobilised citizen engagement during critical periods in Nigeria’s democratic transition. These initiatives reflect his longstanding commitment to structured institutional rebirth.

As a thought leader, Dr Bakare has delivered numerous lectures and keynote addresses in Nigeria and internationally on democratic governance, leadership ethics, political transitions, anti-corruption, economic regeneration, and generational integration. His addresses — delivered at universities, policy forums, civic platforms, and diaspora engagements — consistently interrogate the structural foundations of statecraft and institutional sustainability.

He is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Citadel School of Government (CSG), a practitioner-driven governance academy established to develop ethical, competent, and transformational public leaders across Nigeria and Africa. Through CSG, Dr Bakare has further institutionalised his long-standing investment in leadership formation and public sector capacity development.

In addition to his public and ministerial engagements, he has maintained interests in the private sector across multiple industries, reflecting his belief in the role of enterprise in national development.

Dr Bakare is the author of Strategic Intervention in Governance, a body of work articulating his philosophy of institutional reform and responsible statecraft. Across law, ministry, politics, and leadership development, his work has been guided by a consistent conviction: that nations rise or fall on the strength of their institutions and the character of those entrusted to lead them.

He is married to Mrs. ‘Layide Bakare, and they are blessed with children and grandchildren.