Primate Ayodele Elijah, the founder and leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual church is known for churning out outstanding and groundbreaking prophecies. And he has been consistently consistent about it. Many have often wondered how this globally recognized man of God is able to do this so consistently with so much ease. His prophecies are always different from the rest. Primate Ayodele hits the nail on the head always without giving a hoot whose ox is gored. He will tell you as it is. And in his unique style, he has established himself firmly as one of the few prophets in this part of the world who can be relied upon when it comes to accurate prophecies that will stand the test of time. But some people still believe what the Primate does is called prediction and not prophecy. In this interview with City People publisher, SEYE KEHINDE, City People Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) and SUNDAY ADIGUN, the fearless man of God who has been speaking truth to power for several years now, explained the difference between predictions and prophecies. Enjoy the excerpts.
Let’s talk about your prophecies, sir. When you started, there were a few big prophets around at that time such as Primate Olabayo, God’s Power Oyewole…….
(Primate cuts in) They were big fish (he says proudly). Let me tell you something about Primate Olabayo. When you talk about prophets, Primate Olabayo is one of those I respect greatly. I pray to God to enable me to celebrate him one day. In those when Primate Olabayo was giving prophecies, we were far behind. We were just coming up then. He is the only one I regard as a role model, no other person. I told God that I wanted to be speaking like Primate Olabayo and God granted my wishes. It’s only once that I had an encounter with him when I went to his church to go and see him. Back then, the media would first talk about Primate Olabayo, talk about Oyewole, talk about Okunzua before they now bring in people like us. For new people like us then, newspapers were not giving us attention. It was only City People that would say, let’s do something on this man, he’s new. So, when other people gave us little space, City People would give us a special page. I want to say thank you once again to City People for publishing us without taking a kobo from us.
When we started our prophecies, the first paper that used us that was very loud was Weekend Times. We were just planning to open this church then in 1995. We said that Super Eagles will win Tunis 1994 but will not perform at US 94. They put it on the cover then. They now warned me that if this prophecy fails, we will ‘blackmail you.’ The paper was the reigning newspaper then, but when the prophecy came to pass, nobody came to celebrate us. In 1995, we gave a prophecy about Kudirat Abiola’s death. The man who came for that interview was Charles Okogene. He came to me and said, you said that Kudirat Abiola will die and while I was trying to explain, he said I should be emphatic and hit it straight on the head, will she die or not?. And I said, yes, emphatically, that she will die. That’s why I have chosen to recognize him at the Thanksgiving service. And not quite three months after, the prophecy came to pass. So, they got the book where I made the prophecy and started promoting me till the paper was rested. That is why I always tell people that what we do here is we receive prophecies from God, not predictions.
What is the difference between prediction and prophecy?
Thank you very much. People often make the mistake of mixing the two together. Prediction is when it is clear that something is about to happen and you start making permutations, saying this is what will likely happen because we can see that already, something is about to take place. That is not prophecy. That is prediction based on what you’re seeing right in front of you and which other people can see too. Prophecy is when the thing has not even happened at all, like the Kudirat’s death, and God reveals it to you that it will happen when nobody expects it to happen. There is nothing happening that even suggests that such a thing will even happen. But God will just reveal it to you. People always make the mistake of calling our prophecies predictions, they are not predictions, they are prophecies as revealed by God. And I thank God that since we started in 1995 God has never failed us.
How do you see these moves being made by those who want to be president and…
(Cuts in) Yes, thank you, sir. Who will be Nigeria’s President? God has revealed it to me and I will announce it and make it public by April. A lot of people are wasting their time and that includes Tinubu because Nemesis will catch up with him and fight him. You know what Tinubu did in AD then when he hijacked the party. Now, the northerners too want to hijack the party from him. The South-west need prayers for them to produce the next president. As for Fayemi, the northerners he’s banking on will fight him. If care is not taken, power will return to the north or south. The Yoruba have a great chance, if only they can listen.
What should they do?
(Primate laughs) I recall when we said Saraki was the only person who could defeat Buhari, a lot of people misquoted me. Me, I am not answerable to anybody. I have passed that state where I will be afraid of anybody.
But Saraki is contesting again….
Hold on, sir, you can put words into my mouth. I am not Saraki’s friend, I don’t know him. If God reveals Saraki to me as the next president, I will say it. If it’s Tinubu he reveals to me, I will say it. Its God that will reveal it. Go and find out, even before Goodluck Jonathan won the election, I said it that a South-South person would win the election, even when Yar’Adua was contesting. It was published in Global Excellence. The interview was conducted by Ejiro where I said Yar’Adua will spend 62 days in office. And I said emphatically in the interview that there was no way Yar’Adua could survive it, he will not finish his term. And so, for the APC, the person that will emerge as the flag bearer will surprise a lot of people. Yoruba people should seek the face of God for direction. Many people think I am a political pastor. I don’t like politicians, they don’t come to my church. But politicians and presidents outside the country consult me whenever they have issues that require my input. I don’t need to mention names. I have friends who are presidents in Africa. They call me and I give them instructions. I am never afraid to defend my prophecies. I am a prophet and I never went to the school of prophecy but this is what God called me to do. Yes, I believe in miracles. Miracles happen in our own church too. I have a lot of people in my church whom I have invested in their lives. If you come to my church, your life will never be the same. So, I don’t like politicians, they are too crafty. I know a lot of them but I do not encourage them to attend my church. I have enough people in my church, even though we keep expanding by the day. I conduct three services in my church, by 4.30 am every Sunday service will resume here. I don’t think any church does this in Nigeria. We start the first one by 4.30 and finish by 7.30 and then start another one by 10.30 and then 10.30 to 3 pm. It’s a white garment church. But our own white garment church has an English section where you wear whatever you like. The second service is for English and Igbo speaking members of the church.
Why Igbo, that’s new
Well, I don’t know if that’s new to you but it’s not new to me. We just had to do that because we have a lot of people who speak Igbo in the church and they want to hear their language, their native language.
What’s your prediction on President Buhari?
I have said a lot about President Buhari so much so that people hate the man. But I don’t. If I talk about him too much, people will believe I want Buhari to call me or that I am looking for publicity or favour from the president. That’s what people like Femi Adesina think. I have been met with a few presidents before in this country. I have been to the Villa long before. This church was built by one of Nigeria’s presidents. I don’t need to mention anybody’s name. This place was built within 30 days. A President gave me money and said go and build a church for God. Let me go back to your question. President is not a bad president. My vision for him is that he will complete his term. President Buhari will handover to the right person. Anybody that wins through a free and fair election, Buhari will hand over to him. The man is even tired already, he wants to quickly handover so he can go and rest. Like I said earlier, the Yoruba have what it takes to become president but if care is not taken, they could lose their opportunity to the north or somebody from the south. You may think APC will give it to a Yoruba person, they might not. But if the Yoruba unite, they may get it. But I don’t see the Yorubas uniting.
How about Tinubu and Osinbajo, do you see them coming together or….?
(Cuts in) They will fight now. Both of them will fight. But Osinbajo, he won’t step down for Tinubu. Some people are determined to take the party away from Tinubu, just like he hijacked AD from those babas. Nemesis will catch up with him. And this Lagos4Lagos, those ones are just noise makers, they’re just wasting their money. The boy should use the money to take care of himself. That’s the truth. And whether its Tinubu or no Tinubu, APC will still be in control of Lagos.
What lessons has life taught you?
Life has taught me to always do good. Do not underrate anybody. Respect everybody. Do not condemn anybody. That person you thought will not be somebody might turn out to become somebody great in life. Make a difference in the lives of people that you meet. Anybody that comes in contact with you, let that person have one testimony or the other to share about you. That’s why I always strive to touch people’s lives whenever I meet you, whether it’s in the area of education or wherever I will do my best to make an impact.
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