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Poverty, Prophecy and Profit By Olanrewaju Daodu

January 25, 2016

The ability to predict what the future holds with precision serves spiritual, political, and economic purposes. This useful skill does not distinguish from the fortunes of the rich or the poor.

The ability to predict what the future holds with precision serves spiritual, political, and economic purposes. This useful skill does not distinguish from the fortunes of the rich or the poor.

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I will touch on the political and economic sides of the prophecy immediately and then come back to the spiritual value chain shortly.

On October 14, 2013, long before the political gladiators and stalwarts began scheming and drumming up support ahead of the March 2015 presidential elections, I connected the dots and prophetically declared the position of the then number one citizen, Goodluck Jonathan, of the country vacant.

Of course, without any apology. You can read the article here.

The article was titled:”Failure-Proof Stratagem for President Jonathan’s Re-election.”

Don’t be carried away by the title of the article, it was just a copywriting stunt to boost readership of the content.

In the article, I wrote that the shoeless jingle had lost its maximum airplay long time ago and could not secure the massive votes as he did in the previous presidential election.

The hypnotic effects had expired, and Nigerians were wiser more than ever before.

I went further to assert that even if President Barack Obama should switch positions with Jonathan Goodluck to contest and campaign for the number one office in Nigeria, he would still have lost woefully regardless of the former oratory.

Why? Things had fallen apart and indeed the centre was no longer holding.

Fast forward to the last quarter of  2014 and early 2015. Back to back, it was a great hit for all prophets on Goodluck Jonathan’s payroll.

They didn’t just prophesize with a common mouth and competing with one another to rubber-stamp him back to the Aso-Villa, but they were also threatening fire and brimstone against non-fans who held contrary opinions.

One question that could come to mind is that; what was speaking through them when they gave those words of prophecies with infallible confidence and reckless disregard about the former president’s re-election?

The answer, of course, is money. It seemed the more passionate and convincing they spoke, the fatter the paycheck.

The louder their voice, the bigger the share of the loot. Alas! Jonathan Goodluck was deceived. Or rather too gullible. He ignored the Babylonian handwriting on the wall. It was all over? It was time to go back home.

Kindly hold your thoughts. I have nothing against prophecies and prophets especially if they are undiluted distillates from the Universal Mind.

Now the commerce side to those re-election prophecies. Between October 14, 2014 and March 14, 2015, billions of the American dollars had traded hands. Oil proceeds were squandered. The Central Bank of Nigeria had degenerated to an instant Automated Teller Machine to fund the re-election bid

It is difficult to accurately quantify the naira equivalent of each prophecy thrown into the public domain in supports of Mr. Jonathan’s re-election fantasy without missing out on some figures. The former president was overambitious and desperate, and consequently the Nigerian treasury was mercilessly looted.

The next likely question is; why did this re-packaged product sell out? The answer is evidently around us. Poverty. Poverty in all its sizes and shades. The poverty of mind. The poverty of basic human needs. The poverty of universal basic education. The poverty of visionary leaders. The poverty of a functional and responsive government. The poverty of stable and decent jobs.

The poverty of functional healthcare system. The poverty of national security.

As expected, as the American dollars were changing hands (one of the factors that is currently responsible for the devalued Naira) at national, the state and local government levels weren’t spared.

Those prophets and Imams of men were busy helping themselves with briefcases stacked with foreign currencies. The sad situation is that the commerce side of prophecy has come to stay in the Nigerian business of politics.

One recommendation to tackle this menace is to starve poverty to death. Poverty must be sentenced to death wherever it is found, either by hanging or by a firing squad.

Tackling poverty by fighting primarily corruption is akin to putting the cart before the horse. Corruption will remain the default browser if poverty is the preferred operating system in the country.

The government of the day should diversify the nation’s economy through green economy and allied sectors, improve social welfare condition of citizens, provided an enabling environment for businesses and invest in high impact infrastructures.

One can only hope that the current administration in the country will learn from history.

Olanrewaju Daodu