By Ajanaku Oluwatobi

How I wish we didn’t let our emotions guide us during the build-up to Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, maybe we would have listened to spiritual guidance as we used to previously.

The election for many of us was like a war, we fought forces and defeated them but little did we know that sooner, those we defeated would be given the opportunity to laugh at us. Victory has never been so disastrous like this.

In our efforts to deliver the presidential election for APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we stepped on toes, we abused people, we destroyed relationships, and we broke ties not because of political affiliations but based on our feelings. We felt the country needed someone like Tinubu, we needed a savior and out of our love for the nation, we totally delivered but our nation doesn’t seem to have gotten deliverance; things have become worse than ever in barely five months of another APC government.

We frowned at everyone that spoke against Tinubu’s presidency especially in the religious sector, Primate Ayodele was our constant victim, we attacked him when he described what will become of Tinubu’s presidency if he wins. We called him names, cooked up stories against him even though he didn’t stop prophesying against us. We felt he was paid by some politicians, we thought he had personal issues with Tinubu but now, we know better.

You can’t blame us, His prophecies were negatively affecting our campaign for Tinubu’s presidency, Primate Ayodele said then in a video that scattered the internet that if Nigerians vote for Tinubu and APC, the country will sink. He stated then that there will be so much hardship in the country and it will be nothing compared to Ex-president Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

His exact words are below:

“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.”

For us, these were really harsh words and we reacted harshly too but we have now discovered that we didn’t handle it well. We allowed emotions instead of listening to Primate Ayodele who is a respected man of God. We thought he was just against a Muslim-Muslim presidency but we now know that he was talking according to the divine signals he received from God.

These prophecies he gave before the election didn’t even take long to materialize. The hardship he foretold began during Tinubu’s first week in office. Immediately the fuel subsidy was removed, Nigeria was literally in disarray and till now, we are yet to get ourselves together.

No wonder he still stood by his word after Tinubu was declared winner of the election. We had thought he would keep quiet after the president’s victory but he continued to speak about what was going to unfold in this current administration. Among his prophecies were that a dollar will sell above N1,000, a bag of local rice will cost N50,000.

Few months into Tinubu’s presidency, a dollar now exchanges for more than N1,000, local rice sells above N50,000, essential commodities have become unaffordable and everything the administration has done to salvage the economic hardship don’t seem to have a positive impact.

The prophet has earned my respect and on behalf of others that were misled like me, I say we are deeply sorry, Dear Primate Elijah Ayodele.