Primate Elijah Ayodele needs no introduction. He is perhaps the only man of God in the country that can be said to have shown consistency in his criticism of many Nigerian governments and some of their policies that he considers unfriendly to the masses. The founder and leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual church is known for his ground breaking prophecies that rarely go unfulfilled and most importantly, his desire to always speak truth to power even when he knows it could get him into trouble with the powers that be.

Last Saturday July 4th, at the release of the latest edition of his annual prophecy book, Warning To The Nations, Primate Ayodele spoke exclusively to The Prime Citizens after the media briefing. In this brief chat with the Publisher, WALE LAWAL (08037209290), Primate Ayodele revealed what he considers President Tinubu’s biggest mistake and how he reached out to the Chief Of Staff to the President to warn him of the impending scandal that now appears ready to consume him. Enjoy the brief chat.  

A lot of people believe that President Tinubu’s administration has done well with its various economic reforms while others insist it has not done anything because the average man on the street cannot see the impact of these reforms. As a man of God who sees what a lot of people do not see, do you think God is with President Tinubu on this path of hard economic reforms that he has taken? Do you think this is the right decision at this difficult time and will there will be light at the end of the tunnel?

I want to believe that if God wasn’t with him, he will not be on that seat of power today. He has been destined to occupy the office he occupies today even before he was born, that’s number one. Number two, the President has put in place a lot of reforms that will help Nigeria but these reforms are coming at the wrong time. Number three, there is no difficult time in Nigeria, Nigeria has always been difficult. Nigerians create difficulties for themselves. And unfortunately, the President too has failed to see a lot of the difficulties around him. He has too many people around him who are with him mainly based on I –know-you-and- you-know me basis. And that is the biggest mistake President Tinubu is making. He should not be surrounding himself with his friends and friends of his friends or loyalists and giving them appointments into sensitive positions. It shouldn’t be so, there are thousands of Nigerians more capable than his friends all over the country for him to pick from. This is his biggest mistake and it will affect him on the long run.  

For instance, look at the case of the Adeyemi man who created his own fake agency, something should’ve been done about that case so that all of the persons involved are exposed and punished, but nothing has been done. The Spokes person is too sensational, they are causing problems for Tinubu. They do not want him to see what he ought to see. He can’t see far ahead of him, instead, they keep giving him the impression that it is well. A Spokes person must be calm and its not everything he must respond to. You sit back and watch the situation and then respond later when you have gotten your facts right. A Spokes person does not need to talk too much. Unfortunately, there are too many things wrong in the Tinubu administration than the positive ones. And it is these incompetent people surrounding him that will ruin his second term bid.

No doubt, amongst all the candidates running for president, he is the one that has the ideas and experience to handle this country, but unfortunately, only few Nigerians are enjoying his government right now. Really, Tinubu needs to see far ahead of him. He needs to consider his age, his health, he needs to consider all these factors. Age matters a lot. It is a very important factor when considering how a president will fare in office. Now, he has promised the people a lot of things that are not achievable at the beginning during the campaigns, today, he is finding it difficult to deliver on his promises and he needs age on his side to be able to achieve those things.

Let’s talk about the kidnapping of the students in Oyo state, what are your thoughts right now considering that….?

(Cuts in) Kidnapping is not new again and it will continue for a while. They will still kidnap many other students. They will still go to many schools and kidnap their students. They will kidnap the rich and the high and mighty. Even those in power will be kidnapped. Kidnapping is sometimes political and it is also as a result of poverty because we have seen people engaging kidnappers to kidnap their own family members for ransom. And sincerely, I want to state categorically that the best way to stop kidnapping is by killing kidnappers right there on the spot. You kidnap, you die! What’s the point saying you want them to repent and then you reintegrate them into the Nigerian Army to do what? They should be killed on the spot. People should do everything to protect themselves and the security agencies will do the little they can do.

How disturbed are you, sir, that a lot of men of God, including those who have access to the presidency, are not speaking out on this matter as expected from them by the people?

 Yes, they won’t speak out because they want to maintain their relationship, that’s why people like us will never be heard. The ones they listen to are the ones misleading them. How will a man of God come out and say that Nigerians should not expect Tinubu to wear uniform, carry gun and enter into the bush to fight kidnappers? No, I don’t agree with that, he’s the Commande-in-Chief. A lot of these men of God, perhaps because they have advanced in age, that explains the reason behind some of the illogical things they say. A lot of men of God won’t be sincere when they’re close to you. A lot of men of God won’t let other pastors come close to the President. They will tell him, don’t pay attention to that one, he is talking nonsense, don’t mind him, just because of what they are getting from the government, so I believe that is also a big part of the problem.

Finally, sir, does Governor Sanwo-Olu have anything to fear concerning his aspirations when he leaves office?

Sanwo-Olu has a much bigger aspiration after he leaves office, a really big one, but I don’t want to say it now. If I say it, they will truncatte it for him even before the aspiration sees the light of day. Let’s just wait and see. But if I say it now, they will run after him. I just want to be careful not to let his plans come out in the open right now. I’m not saying this so that he can be my friend, no, that’s not the point. Ordinarily, I would’ve loved to speak to him and tell him some things but they are always difficult to get to. I could reach him on phone now and he will refuse to speak. Like the case of Gbaja, I called him repeatedly for more than two weeks but he refused to pick. Perhaps his thinking was that I wanted to ask for money, I don’t know what his problem was. You cannot say you were too busy for two weeks not to pick a call. Even God is never too busy for us. Gbaja’s biggest problem was his arrogance. I still have his number in my phone. I even sent him text introducing myself and requesting that he should please send any of his trusted aides to me so I can speak with that person and they can give him the feed back. But no response came, now he is in deep trouble. Nobody is happy that he has found himself in this mess but it could’ve been avoided if only he was humble enough to respond to my messages and listen to what I had to say to him.