By Julius Ikedia, Lagos
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have made the country proud with their excellent performance at the ongoing African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’ivoire. They started their tournament on a rocky note but unexpectedly, the underdogs have now become the favorite to win the AFCON 2023 tournament.
Apart from the skills and tactics the players put into their games, the support received from prominent Nigerians have been a major source of motivation for the players to always go for the goal no matter how difficult it gets.
Especially during the ‘Let’s Do It Again’ campaign before the AFCON tournament, several individuals supported the team across various sectors but prominent among them was Primate Elijah Ayodele, the Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church who chose to invest his prophetic strength on the Super Eagles team.
Primate Ayodele is one person who has unapologetically supported the Super Eagles team even though sometimes, those at the helm of affairs don’t listen to his counsels but he never stopped for once. During the last AFCON tournament, He said in a press conference that Nigeria will crash out early after the coach didn’t listen to his instructions and truly, they did crash out very early. The coach then thought Primate Ayodele wasn’t patriotic but little did he know that the prophet was showing the team massive support with his advise which are borne out of divine encounter.
Fast forward to the build up to AFCON 2023, Primate Ayodele was still one of the first set of people that prayed for the Super Eagles to perform well. We recall that during his birthday celebration that was held on Tuesday, 14th of February, 2023 which the NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau attended, Primate Ayodele declared in the presence of very important personalities and the media that the Super Eagles will go to the nations cup not just to play but to win.
Before the tournament began, Primate Ayodele was also the only person that warned the coach against fielding Uzoho as the main keeper for the team because they will crash out. Due to his love and support for the team, he advised the coach not to make use of Uzoho in order to avoid disappointment. We can all bear witness that the choice of Nwabali as the first keeper has solely contributed to how far the Eagles have gone in the tournament.
Thankfully, the NFF recognizes the importance of spiritual consultations; Primate Ayodele was consulted and included in the ‘Let’s Do It Again’ campaign in preparation for AFCON 2023. If we are not mistaking, Primate Ayodele was the only prophet in the country that was included in the campaign.
Precisely on September 17th 2023, Primate Ayodele revealed in a video interview that Nigeria will get to final if they listen to instructions and that they will lift the cup because they have all it takes to win but if the team decide to use ‘big man’ approach in playing the game, they will crash out.
In relation to Primate Ayodele’s prophecy, there is no doubt that the Super Eagles team has never been so agile and intentional towards their games like they have been in this tournament. They have all outperformed themselves; including the popular and fast rising players among the team.
With our victory against South Africa, Nigeria has secured a place at the finals just as Primate Ayodele said and if the team listens well, We can smile home with the cup in our hands.
While we also wait for further directives from Primate Ayodele, it is expedient that we appreciate him for supporting the Super Eagles team. We hope other men of God in the country would follow suit.