By Fredrick Nwabufo
Permit me to indulge in this
end-of-the-year humbug. I have read some prophecies for the year 2020 by men
who arrogate to themselves the title ‘’man of God’’. Well, since I am not born
of Satan, I believe I am a craft of that supreme intelligent being. But let me
say upfront, the ‘’spirit’’ which dwells in me is not the same as that which
resides in these ‘’men of God’’. So, please indulge me if my prophecies go in a
different tangent.
First, I have studied the 2020
prophecies of Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual
Church, Oke-Afa, Ejigbo Lagos, and some other preachers, but I really wonder
why these men do not get tired of this humdrum every cycle – insipid
regurgitations.
Most of the so-called prophecies
are guesstimates and speculations drawn from prevailing societal issues. For
example, how do you interpret this ‘’prophecy’’ by Primate Ayodele – where he
said: ‘’Nigerians in the Diaspora will witness more troubles. I foresee
incessant killings in the country as rioting will be on the increase. Nigeria 2020
needs to pray so well because I foresee so many things happening in the
country. The country will face serious economy challenges.’’
The fact is Nigerians in the
Diaspora have always faced challenges – troubles are a natural human
phenomenon. Also, there has been an uptick in killings since 2015 – in fact
since 2011 in the country. So, what is different? And Nigeria’s economy is
prostrate; as a matter of fact, it has always been unhealthy, so what could get
worse?
Really, there is nothing
extraordinary about the ‘’ordinariness’’ of these yearly ritual.
On December 31, 2018, the
Reverend Ejike Mbaka prophesised that Nigerians will face ‘’serious hardship’’
in 2019 as if 2016 and 2017 when the country was in a recession were less
severe.
I recall that Apostle Johnson
Suleman in his 2019 caravan of prophecies suggested that Atiku Abubakar would
win the presidential election, but what happened? The same way TB Joshua
predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the US election in 2016 — which turned
out false.
So, now to the meat and potatoes;
my prophecies for the New Year are not swayed by some spiritual or ethereal
power. God has not spoken to me, please. Why does he need to when he said, ‘’ye
are gods’’? Rather my prognostications are a derivative of the country’s
current political and economic ecosystem.
Here they go. More Nigerians will
be abducted and held in detention for being ‘’irritants’’ to the government by
the Department of State Services (DSS). The reason is simple. The Buhari
government’s approach, which is attack and crush, to dissent has not changed
since 2015. The administration is highly paranoid that it will deploy a sledgehammer
to kill a moth.
Also, unemployment in the country
will soar in the New Year. Nigeria’s unemployment rate will hit an
unprecedented high of 33.5 percent from 23.1 in 2020.
No ‘’Holy Spirit’’ murmured this
to me. Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, said this while
declaring open a two-day workshop on “Breaking the Resilience of High
Unemployment Rate in the Country” in Abuja.
According to him, the high
unemployment rate comes with corollaries of crime, insurgency and militancy.
So, ordinarily 2020 may not be a peaceful year with high unemployment rate –
more young people without jobs – and a parlous economy. You do not need any
pastor to prophesy this to you. Crime is driven by social inequalities,
unemployment and other concomitants.
Hear the minister: “It is a
worrisome status as the global poverty capital (World Bank, 2018); and
concomitant high prevalence rate of crimes and criminality, including mass
murders, insurgency, militancy, armed robbery, kidnappings and drug abuse,
among others.’’
“As if this situation is not
scary enough, it is projected that the unemployment rate for this country will
reach 33.5 per cent by 2020, with consequences that are better imagined, if the
trend is not urgently reversed.’’
Bottom-line – insecurity will
persist and worsen.
I do not need to say ‘’a
prominent Nigerian’’ will die as it is customary with most of these ‘’New
Year’s prophecies’’. Death is natural for all breathing things. And of course,
both prominent and non-prominent citizens will die in 2020. It is natural.
In addition, the race to the 2023
election will heat up in the New Year. Some gladiators will put on their
murmillo and show some teeth. It is expected, nothing extraordinary about this.
Already, the clamour and jostle for positions, ahead of the election, took up
much of 2019. This will ossify in 2020.
And there will be more drama and
chaos across the country, but Nigeria will survive. Nigeria is too complicated
to be without drama.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and
journalist
@FredrickNwabufo
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