By Wale Lawal

There is no doubt about it, we know the stand out prophets in the country today who have proven to all and sundry that they know their onions. By this, I mean prophets who, time and time again have held us spell bound with staggering prophecies that sometimes shook us to the root of our foundation. And their consistencies are never in doubt. Primate Ayodele Elijah, the founder and leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual church is one of such few prophets, and I say this with every sense of responsibility.

There are those who have been very cynical of Primate Ayodele and his consistently accurate prophecies. They do not hold any significant criticism against him other than the fact that he is always in the news, making headlines. And the part they hate the most is the fact that most often than not, his prophecies always come to pass. And it has stayed consistently so for decades running.

But for many of these doubting Thomases, last year 2023 was the game changer. Owing to the political mood that was prevalent in the country at the time as a result of the 2023 presidential election, many were compelled to follow Primate Ayodele’s prophecies and prophetic declarations. And in the end, the veils fell off their eyes and they got to experience first hand the incredible spiritual knowledge and unbelievable accuracies of Primate Ayodele Elijah’s prophecies. Today, some of them have become followers of Primate Ayodele’s works. They now believe in his prophecies. They now acknowledge the man as one of the most outstanding men of God in the land today.

One of Primate’s prophecies last year that people are still talking about is his prophecy of untold economic hardship that would come after the Buhari administration. As a matter of fact, this prophecy was released by the prophet in 2022. He made it clear then that Nigerians should not be celebrating the end of the Buhari administration, thinking things would suddenly become rosy when a new administration comes in, it won’t turn out that way. Hear him: “The economic hardship you people are experiencing now will be child’s play compared to what you will experience when another president comes in. I don’t want to know who that president will be, just mark my words, Nigerians will experience the biggest hardships of their lives. Prices of food stuff will shoot up, fuel price will become three times the price we are buying it now and may eventually get to N1000 in some places. Don’t start celebrating because Buhari’s tenure is about to come to an end, the real hardship is about to start!” Many didn’t believe him. Only few people took him seriously then, but today, here we are, faced with the fulfillment of his warning.

Another prophecy of Primate Ayodele that jolted many was when he warned, and repeatedly too, that Nigerians must not vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president or even the APC for that matter. He warned that a vote for the APC or Asiwaju was a vote for unprecedented economic hardship never experienced before. But many, including this writer, failed to take him seriously. Asiwaju’s diehard followers and devotees took to the social media to call him all kinds of names, saying he was talking nonsense. I wonder what they will be thinking now.

How about his prophecy that, despite the momentum and soaring popularity that the then Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was enjoying, that he would not win the presidential election? This came as a shock to many. Several prophets had stood before their congregation and in front of their altars and declared Peter Obi winner as instructed by God, according to them. Many of Obi’s followers called the Obedients tore Primate Ayodele apart on social media. They were enraged at his guts and audacity to foretell that their beloved Obi would not become president. They insulted him. They rained abuses on him. But the man didn’t give a hoot. He had said what the Lord told him to say, their reaction was of no consequence to him. “If they like, let them insult me from now till Jesus comes, it changes nothing. Peter Obi will not emerge winner of the election,” he said with a note of finality. And today, the rest is history.

Many will still remember the tension that filled the entire nation following the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election. Many swore former president Buhari would not hand over power to Tinubu. Hundreds of prophets said there will be a coup or a break down of law and order and the military would stop the handing over of power to Tinubu to prevent anarchy. They swore that God had told them Tinubu will never be president. But Primate Ayodele’s position was different. Listen to him:”I don’t know where all these so called men of God are getting their prophecies from, but what God is telling me is that nothing can stop Tinubu from being sworn in as president of the federal republic of Nigeria. A million Peter Obis and Atikus and their supporters cannot stop Tinubu’s swearing in!” And today, we all know who was right and was wrong.

What about the furore that emanated from the election petition of Atiku and Obi challenging the electoral victory of President Tinubu. Their supporters, especially the Obidients, were confident they would get a favourable ruling and Obi would be announced winner. Many pastors and prophets predicted Tinubu would lose the case. But Primate Ayodele didn’t share that sentiment. He told them in very clear terms both Atiku and Obi would lose, no matter the millions they spend on getting the best lawyers in the land. We all know the rest of the story.

For those who followed closely the last Liberian presidential election, Primate Ayodele warned George Weah repeatedly that he needed to take some steps to ensure he did not lose the election. But George Weah, whom the Primate also wrote to, didn’t pay attention to his warnings. Many people didn’t. Everyone, including George Weah himself, thought he was sitting pretty as president. He got overconfident. He didn’t believe anyone could defeat him at the polls. But he was wrong, he lost the election to his closest rival. Nobody saw this coming, nobody except Primate Ayodele.

When the issue of kidnapping began to raise it’s ugly head again shortly after the emergence of President Tinubu, Primate Ayodele warned that we have not seen anything yet. He said, “very soon, kings, traditional rulers and their subjects would be kidnapped and some assassinated. And very soon, they will try to kidnap or assassinate governors too,” he warned. Many didn’t believe this could happen. It didn’t seem possible. But, sadly, this is becoming common occurrence now. Our kings and traditional rulers are being slaughtered like chickens in broad daylight.

When the Labour Party got the highest votes in Lagos during the presidential election, many had believed they would also win the Lagos governorship election. Many felt their candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes was on a roller coaster ride to Alausa, the seat of power in Lagos. The Labour Party supporters were confident victory was theirs. APC was frightened. Sanwo-Olu was sweating. Their supporters were nervous. But Primate Ayodele insisted that Sanwo-Olu was going no where, he would be re-elected. And that was exactly what happened.

How about the death of the founder of FCMB, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Primate foretold his death long before it happened. As always, these prophecies are sometimes ignored but later regretted.

Hate him or love him, Primate Ayodele has proven over and over again that he is different from the other inconsistent prophets that litter the landscape. They are as inconsistent as their reckless prophecies. But he stands out from them all. He is the only man of God who has a compendium of over 30,000 fulfilled prophecies to his name. And he is not even ready to slow down yet. Let’s face it, no matter what anybody says, when it comes to making accurate prophecies, only very few can come close to Primate Ayodele. You don’t agree? Then, name your prophet and let the debate begin….