The late Gen. Sani Abacha remains possibly the most dreaded Nigerian Head of state to ever rule the country. He took over power from the then Interim President, late Chief Earnest Shonekan. It was Abacha that got the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola (GCFR), arrested and jailed without trial. His offence was that he dared to declare himself President while he, Abacha, was still holding onto power. Subsequently, Abiola died while in detention under circumstances that are still shrouded in mystery till date, and shortly after, Abacha himself died mysteriously.
Before Abacha’s mysterious death, he had been warned that a strange
illness would ultimately take his life. This warning came from none other than
a man that’s been variously described as one of Nigeria’s most powerful but
quiet prophets, Rev. (Dr.) Adetunji Adeonigbagbe. He is the founder and leader
of one of the fastest growing spiritual churches in Nigeria, the Celica Church
of Christ International. Reverend Adetunji Adeonigbagbe, decades ago, was
privileged to have been used by God to speak to some of the Nigerian leaders
and rulers at the time. One of the heads of states he sent messages to and who
acknowledged his message was the late General Sani Abacha. He reached out to the
Reverend, extending a hand of friendship, but being a man who always lets the
holy spirit direct his affairs, Reverend Adeonigbagbe politely declined to
accept his hand of friendship and the gift that came with it.
In the second part of this exclusive interview with the amiable and
spirit filled Reverend Adetunji Adeonigbagbe, he revealed his dealings with
some of the past Nigerian leaders and why he was wary of getting close to
anyone of them. He spoke with the Publisher of The Prime Citizens.com.ng, WALE
LAWAL (08037209290) and revealed a story many certainly couldn’t have heard
before. Enjoy it.
So, what about late General Sani Abacha, what kind of relationship did
you have with him while he was in office? What kind of person was he?
When Abacha came into power, that's another big story on its own. I was privy to some of the intrigues and power play that went on behind the scene at that time. Though, I was not having politicians or military leaders as close friends, but a few of them used to consult me for prayers. Late Baba Adedibu and I used to be close then. He used to invite me over for prayers back then. I remember telling MKO Abiola then that he should forget about becoming the president of the country. I told him to make himself a king maker instead, but that if he insisted he must be president at all cost, the end might be disastrous for him. But they didn't listen to me. God told me very clearly that Babangida didn't want to go. He wanted to become a life president. God was showing me really powerful things then. About three days before the annulment of the election, God showed me a powerful vision while I was in my bathroom. In the vision, I saw the exact speech Babangida made on the day he annulled the election and the exact uniform he wore while making the address was what he wore in the vision. In fact, I could almost read his speech off hand because he had read it in the vision I saw. People would've been wondering if I had seen the president's speech before he read it.
I called my people and told them this election would be annulled. It was during that vision God showed me that I first heard the word annulment. I never heard it before. About three days later, Babangida annulled the election. It was at this point that Baba Adedibu concluded that, clearly, God must've truly called me because I told him everything then. So, because the government then didn't follow God's divine instructions, we are where we are today. Now, let me tell you the part that frightens me, God has also told me there is going to be a spiritual revolution. I remember also many years ago when I warned about the Gulf war. They published it in the newspapers then but nothing was done about it.
When former US President, Bill Clinton, had issues, we sent a message to him via his email, telling him that he must stay quiet all through his ordeal back then and that he would be let off the hook at the end of the day. And the man obeyed that simple instruction, kept quiet and overcame the ordeal. So, I don't know why our own leaders don't listen to spiritual instructions. But then again, I don't blame then, a lot of men of God have messed up themselves before our leaders and politicians. They collect money belonging to the people from them and bribe their conscience, so how then would they ever listen to God's genuine instructions? How will they listen when God is angry with them and telling them to do the right thing?
So, ever since then, I have been discouraged when it comes to seriously involving myself in spiritual programmes for the benefit of the government and the country at large because I spent lots of money organising that prayer session back then. All the prophets that attended, they were well taken care of and God brought out powerful revelations for us.
Now, when Shonekan was in office, I had no personal interaction with him. Then, Abacha got there. Personally, I never liked Abacha. I didn't like the way he ran his government. Though, I wrote him a letter when he imprisoned Obasanjo on allegations of coup plotting. I told him then that Obasanjo must not die in prison because he was still going to be our leader. I told him so in that letter. All these things I am telling you now, we still have the letters and documents, this is not something someone just wrote and put together not long ago, we have had them well documented for many years now. I also told Abacha that he would be killed by a strange illness.
After receiving the message, Abacha sent somebody to come and meet me in the church. He wanted to make friends with me but I didn't like him at all. But incidentally, he remains the only Head of state who got my letter and personally reached out to get in touch with me. But I didn't reciprocate. When the car conveying the officer he sent came, it was a Peugeot station wagon. The person came out and said please, I want to see the founder of the church, that he was from the head of state. He said he brought a gift for him from the head of state. He then opened the booth of his car and showed me the dollars inside a box. He was talking to me but he didn't know he was talking to the founder. I now told him that the founder was not around and that he didn't leave any message for me to receive any gift on his behalf. They came back a second time but still, I refused to attend to them. Why, you may wonder? Because many people were killed during his regime. Those people Abacha fraternised with, the likes of Professor Peller, Kudirat Abiola, there was also a popular female socialite in Oyo state then, they were all killed or attacked during his regime. It was a brutal regime where the voice of opposition was suppressed. But, ironically, out of all the heads of states I wrote to, Abacha was the only one that tried to seek me out by sending his people to look for me. The others didn't even make such effort.
Personally, if you ask me, I think Obasanjo has been one of our best leaders in recent times. He was a great leader. I don't care what anyone might say or think, but this is my own candid opinion. And I do not personally know OBJ, but this is just the way I feel about him. He did his best for the country while he was in government. If I was part of government I would've endorsed him for a third term back then. He did very well to reduce the huge foreign debt we were battling with it at the time. He stabilised the economy and everything was going well with prospects of getting even better. But he needed more time for his policies to begin to yield dividends. He had plans for this country. Yar Adua that came after him and was supposed to implement some of Obasanjo's policies and projects was held down by cabals who took advantage of his illness at the time. Then, Jonathan came. I didn't even have any dealings with Jonathan at all because he was too slow for my liking. He took too long a time to take very simple decisions. But I understood what his problem was. Those who got him into power were the ones holding him down, making sure he could only take decisions that benefitted them and not the people.
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