By Thompson Jacob
I don’t know if this publication would soil my relationship with renowned prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele, or he may decide not to welcome me in his Lagos office again but I find it difficult to hold this feeling of shock I have based on my conversation with him on Sunday, 3rd of November 2024.
I have always wanted to have a tete-a-tete with the prophet for interview purposes, I know how controversial his prophecies are and their economic impact on any news platform that is able to secure an exclusive interview with him; He is a very marketable individual and his prophecies are always relevant no matter how much they are.
After some time, I finally met him in Lagos on this fateful day, and among the things we discussed was the qualifier match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Benin Republic which held yesterday in Ivory Coast.
Primate Ayodele has several sports prophecies that have come to pass and sincerely, he is very popular in the sports sector. I will not forget so soon how he got global attention due to his prophetic advice to Nigeria’s forward, Victor Osimhen not to go to Chelsea FC during the transfer window when the player was on the verge of signing for the English side.
Primate Ayodele in a video that went viral globally warned that the player would not have a successful career if he signed for Chelsea. He advised him to go elsewhere apart from Chelsea FC.
During our discussion, I asked him about what he thinks about the match which was weeks away as at then and his response was direct and precise. He said “Nigeria must handle Benin Republic well, they want to push the match to a draw, Nigeria must be very careful with them”
I further inquired because I know Nigerian players are in form and won’t hesitate to defeat Benin Republic by a landslide, I asked if he was sure and he simply asked me to keep my fingers crossed.
However, yesterday was shocking to me as the Super Eagles of Nigeria struggled to even keep the match at a draw. If not for Osimhen’s header, Nigeria would have lost to Benin Republic.
I have been wondering since yesterday, how did Primate Ayodele see this coming? Even the players cannot say they envisaged such a tough time with Benin Republic, I’m still surprised at how he was able to accurately tell the outcome of the football match.
I am aware that Primate Ayodele isn’t one who loves to sing his praises and I sincerely apologize if this would be seen as an offence but man of God, I just couldn’t hold it.