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Primate Ayodele: A Pacesetter for Religious Tolerance in Nigeria
By Adetola Olowu, Niger
Some months ago, the United States of America designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the alleged incessant killings of Christians in several parts of the country.
The U.S. government frowned at the killings, claiming that the country is being ruled by Muslims, and vowed that there would be boots on the ground to protect Christians who are allegedly being killed daily by Islamic extremists.
While this highlights a serious issue, it also points to the fact that the country suffers from a gross lack of religious tolerance. When the U.S. made these allegations against Muslims, clerics from the other religion corroborated the statements, alleging that there are plans to Islamize Nigeria.
In many parts of the country, Muslims and Christians are seen as opposing sides, whereas in reality, they worship the same God but in different ways and traditions. Nigeria now appears to be a country where both religions cannot tolerate each other; they openly criticize one another and often incite their members against each other.
Amid this situation, a popular Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has gracefully offered himself as a bridge-builder between Christians and Muslims. He has taken it upon himself to ensure that religious tolerance is embraced in the country and to give Nigeria a better global outlook.
Primate Ayodele has long associated with Muslims. Many often wonder about the God they call upon in his church because it is common to see Muslims wearing hijabs attending his church services without any form of discrimination. He has attended Ramadan lectures where he preached, and he has openly identified with Islamic clerics on several occasions. During the Ramadan period, he is known for always sharing food with the Muslim community, and when the fasting ends, he goes further by giving out chickens, bags of rice, cash gifts, and other items to dedicated Muslims. This has been happening for decades.
When the U.S. government accused Nigeria of allowing Christian genocide, Primate Ayodele, despite being a prominent Christian cleric, dismissed the allegation. He clarified that Christians are not the only ones affected by the attacks, as Muslims are also victims. He told President Donald Trump that instead of being described as Christian genocide, it should be framed as religious genocide since both religions are targets of the attacks.
As expected, Primate Ayodele faced backlash for his clarification, with many calling him different names. However, he did not back down; rather, he continued preaching against the narrative of Christian genocide.
As if that was not enough, Primate Ayodele went further to build a mosque—a development that is extremely rare. As a pastor, even going near a mosque is often viewed by some as controversial, yet Primate Ayodele was willing to be called different names just to fill the gap of religious tolerance in Nigeria.
When he announced plans to build the mosque, many predicted that members of his church would leave him. Some said he was not called by God, while others claimed he was merely seeking attention. Some even alleged that the devil was using him. However, he completed the mosque within a few months, and as we speak, it has been commissioned and has begun operations.
While doing all these, parts of the Christian community expressed strong grievances toward the prophet because of what many people had grown up believing about both religions. Several prominent figures in both Christian and Islamic communities have passed down misconceptions about religion to younger generations. Seeing someone do what had never been done before understandably raised eyebrows. However, Primate Ayodele was never deterred; instead, he continued preaching the need for religious tolerance in Nigeria.
Interestingly, it appears that the efforts of Primate Ayodele in promoting religious tolerance have begun to influence others. Just weeks after he built a mosque, a notable Celestial prophet was seen in Mecca observing pilgrimage. Also, over the weekend, a Nigerian politician who is a devout Muslim hosted a Ramadan lecture and invited a prophet to speak to the audience.
In recognition of his efforts in promoting religious tolerance in the country, the Arewa Gamji Emirate Royal Council from Kaduna awarded Primate Ayodele the Wambai Gamji title yesterday at his Lagos church—another indication that the message of religious tolerance is gradually gaining acceptance.
More recognitions are expected to follow, but Primate Ayodele did not do all these for recognition. He acted after receiving what he described as divine instructions from God, with the sole aim of uniting Christians and Muslims in Nigeria and beyond. With this, many others are expected to follow suit, all thanks to Primate Ayodele, who has become a pacesetter for religious tolerance in Nigeria.
The All Progressive Congress primary election that is currently ongoing has brought about surprises in some states, especially the Senate primary that was held yesterday.
The election, so far, can be described as one that has fallen even the mighty ones. We have seen grown men wailing and lamenting because they couldn’t accept the fact that they lost their bid to return to the national assembly despite their support for the government.
For some people who have been in the party for years, newcomers dislodged them during the election, and they have been crying foul, threatening to start legal actions, and the situation is bad for them because they can’t move to another party anymore.
Among those who were shockingly taken out of the way are Ned Nwoko, the senator representing Delta North and former governor Gbenga Daniel, the senator representing Ogun East senatorial district. Their loss is so humbling that they almost didn’t get any votes in their respective election.
Ned Nwoko lost to the former governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa, while Gbenga Daniel lost to the incumbent governor of Ogun state, Dapo Abiodun.
However, their losses had been foretold by popular Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, who is renowned for his prophetic insights on issues about politics, governance, education, and nations, to mention but a few.
In different live services, Primate Ayodele had warned both politicians about their ambition, foretelling what would befall them if they went ahead with the primaries.
For Gbenga Daniel, Primate Ayodele stated that a higher authority has taken his right from him, while advising him to forget about the position because they will only mock him. He revealed that the case has already been settled and it’s not in the former governor’s favour. This was months before the primary was held.
These were his words:
“The issue of Dapo and Gbenga Daniel. Gbenga Daniel doesn’t know that his party doesn’t love him. What happened is from the higher authority, and that may be the end of the case, so if Gbenga is struggling, they will just be mocking him.”
As he said, despite the fact that Gbenga Daniel tried his best to see that he gets a return ticket to the senate, he had to step down a few hours before the primary election as the odd wasn’t in his favour.
For Ned Nwoko, Primate Ayodele had stated that the ticket would be given to Okowa even when nobody believed it.
These were his words:
“Okowa and Ned senate ticket; they want to give it to Okowa, so watch , they will fail you Ned.”
As he said, Ned lost woefully in the election while Okowa won him with a margin that can never be closed.
At least 100 deaths have been reported in an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 390 cases suspected, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has told the BBC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.
The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved drugs or vaccines.
There are also two confirmed cases and one death in Uganda, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This unfortunate incident is coming after Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele repeatedly warned that there will be fresh outbreak of Ebola Virus in Africa.
He even went as far as mentioning the countries that will be affected by the virus, while warning the world health organization to take note of the disease.
These were his words:
“Ebola; Uganda, Sudan, Cameroun, Tanzania, DR Congo, watch out….”
Also in his prophecies for the new year which was released in December 2025, Primate Ayodele mentioned that there will be outbreak of Ebola virus in some countries in Africa which will lead to death of people.
These were his words:
“I foresee a lot of health challenges will surface in Africa namely Ebola, Tuberculosis, Jaundice, Lassa fever, migraine and another form of covid. I foresee chicken pox and another disease will break out in Nigeria.”
As he warned, the new wave of the virus as fulfilled Primate Ayodele’s prophecy.
In early July 2025, when the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was unveiled as the opposition coalition party for the 2027 election, Nigerians were overjoyed.They weren’t just excited for the party, but also for those who made up the party. They were bigwigs from the 2023 presidential election and two major candidates of the opposition; Abubakar Atiku of PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party were part of the coalition.Many Nigerians who want the APC out of the way were excited that, for the first time, opposition parties in Nigeria realised it would take unity to remove a strong politician like President Tinubu from power and because in the last election, the combined votes of opposition parties surpassed that of Tinubu, the combination of the two opposition actors was seen as a great force.However, while Nigerians were happy about the coalition, Primate Elijah Ayodele, a renowned prophet who is known for the prophetic position he occupies in global politics and governance, revealed what was to come for the coalition during a press conference.The press conference was held on the 5th of July, to launch his annual prophecy book titled Warnings To The Nations, and during the question-and-answer sessions, he was asked about the fate of the ADC, and his response left everyone surprised.He mentioned that the ADC coalition is good, but the former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, would pull out of the party. He stated that the coalition is divine but Peter Obi will pull out. This was barely one week after the coalition was unveiled.These were his words:“The coalition is divine. Only a spell will dismantle the coalition.“Peter Obi will still pull out from this coalition, if care is not taken. If they advise him wrongly to pull out, he cannot win.”“If Obi said he wants to pull out, use Rotimi Amaechi (ex-minister). No other person (sic) will contest, it is Atiku. But the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) believes they have won the 2027 election with these governors that they are poaching. President Bola Tinubu, you have not won yet; I am giving you a warning now, how you can win, how people will defeat you.“Anything I said, that’s what God said. And I am presenting it that way. So, if you don’t like it, it is in 2027 that you will regret it.”https://thelagostimes.com/2027-election-primate-ayodele-releases-prophecy-on-adc-coalition-says-peter-obi-will-pull-out/Just as Primate Ayodele warned, Peter Obi left the coalition yesterday Sunday to pursue his presidential ambition elsewhere.This fulfilment further shuts the critics of Primate Ayodele; many have said what he does is permutation and analysis but there is no way anyone could have thought Peter Obi would leave the coalition in July 2025, the very beginning of the coalition when the going was at its best. This shows Primate Ayodele remains a formidable and credible prophet for all nations.Likewise, on the issue of Rabiu Kwankwaso, Primate Ayodele has always maintained that he is not fully with the ADC and that he will just be there like a mole.This has been fulfilled too because Kwankwaso left with Obi to NDC, just few weeks after joining.
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