By Rose Ojetunde
If you are among those that saw Primate Elijah Ayodele as an enemy of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) because of his stand against Muslim-Muslim ticket and another APC government before the presidential election, I am certain you are covering your face in shame as I write this.
Of a truth, Primate Ayodele stood firmly against Tinubu becoming the next president of Nigeria. At different times, he warned Nigerians against voting for him and even sent him messages asking him to stop his bid for presidency because he isn’t needed at the federal level.
As humans, it was only normal to think Primate Ayodele was sponsored by opposition parties or had personal issues with President Tinubu but with just barely two months of the new administration, we can all agree that Primate Ayodele vividly knew what he was saying.
His warnings to Nigerians about Tinubu’s presidency didn’t go without backlashes. He was seriously engaged on the media by supporters of the APC presidential candidate and called a fake prophet but as usual, Primate Ayodele never responded but stood his ground unwaveringly while constantly describing his warnings against Tinubu as divine messages which were not borne out of any analysis or personal interests.
Primate Ayodele made several warnings in videos and texts but the one that most angered supporters of APC was his revelation on the economic situation of Nigeria if Tinubu won. The prophet said that Nigeria will sink and the people will suffer extraordinarily. He noted that Nigeria will become tough and that the hardship experienced during Buhari’s administration will be minimal to the one that will be faced under Tinubu’s administration.
These were his words; “I’m not saying anyone should not insult me, I am not scared of any human being. If Nigeria votes APC in 2023, things will be tougher. We will see human beings and want to eat them like food. This is how God told me. I am not saying you should not criticize me or say anything against me even as an APC member, I warned you in 2015 too.”
“You want to vote for lies in 2023, if you vote for the party that has a broom as their symbol, I pity churches. I am not against anybody and I don’t vote, Nigeria will be tough. If you vote and Tinubu enters, there will be serious problems.’’
“If Nigerians vote for APC in 2023, the country will sink, we will swim in poverty, and the economy will be in shambles. If APC wins, Nigeria will suffer extraordinarily. We have not yet seen hardship; if APC wins, the real hardship will come. The economy will be sick.’’
Again, when President Tinubu won the election, members of the ruling party launched media attacks and campaigns of calumny against the man of God. They described him as a fake prophet for saying Tinubu will not win, meanwhile he never said so.
They called him PDP prophet for saying Atiku is God’s choice for Nigeria, some even called him ‘Obidient’ prophet at some point. They wrote several articles against the man of God in an attempt to soil his reputation. They said none of his prophecies about Tinubu’s president will come to pass, they were so sure that Nigeria’s economic problems will be solved in a twinkle of an eye but as usual, Primate Ayodele responded with another revelation of what will happen in the new administration.
These were his words; “I am seeing a new government of sorrow, hardship, failure, economic disappointment, there will be more hardship because God never approved another APC government for Nigerians.”
“Under this new government, Nigeria will not be regarded internationally, this government will not make it better than what we experienced in the outgoing government.”
“This is not the government God approved for us. God has not approved Nigeria to be an Islamic republic, he has not said Christians will not be part of the government but these people have berated God, they want to stir confusion in the religious sector but God has rejected them.’’
“I am seeing a new government of sorrow, hardship, failure, economic disappointment, there will be more hardship because God never approved another APC government for Nigerians.”
“Under this new government, Nigeria will not be regarded internationally, this government will not make it better than what we experienced in the outgoing government.”
“This is not the government God approved for us. God has not approved Nigeria to be an Islamic republic, he has not said Christians will not be part of the government but these people have berated God, they want to stir confusion in the religious sector but God has rejected them.’’
In barely two months of Tinubu’s presidency, Nigeria has experienced the kind of hardship that has never surfaced since the country came into existence. Some of the policies adopted by President Tinubu seem to have backfired because the country’s economic situation has drastically deteriorated.
The Naira floating policy has further devalued the Nigerian currency and pushed the exchange rate to N810/$. For the first time in the country’s history, the official exchange rate surpassed that of the parallel market.
The subsidy on fuel was removed and while the people were still trying to adapt to the new price of N500/Litre, NNPC increased its price to N617/Litre yesterday, making things more difficult for the citizens of Nigeria.
The government approved N8,000 palliatives for 12 million households last week but had to suspend it immediately for a review yesterday following the backlashes the policy received at different sectors of the country.
At the moment, even those who voted for President Tinubu have started regretting their actions due to the hardship being faced in the country. The prices of commodities have tripled and the ordinary man now faces difficulties in feeding his family. Indeed, it has never been this bad in Nigeria.
If within two months, things can turn upside down with President Tinubu’s administration, what is the assurance that the country will become better again under this present administration?
We actually thought we would wait for four years to either vindicate or incriminate Primate Ayodele but in barely two months, we can say for sure that Primate Ayodele has been vindicated of all the accusations, attacks, and articles sponsored by the ruling party against him.