The young captain of the victorious Ghana Satellites, Andre Dede Ayew, has denied ever speaking to the spiritual Godfather of Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills, Prophet T. B Joshua during Ghana’s final U-20 World Cup match against Brazil, as claimed by the Nigerian spiritualist in a video footage circulating on the internet.
Ayew said yesterday that he never had any conversation with Joshua, during the crunch final game last Friday at the giant Cairo International Stadium as claimed by Mills’ spiritual father. “I don’t know T.B Joshua, I have only heard there is someone like that but I don’t know him,” Dede said. According to the young footballer, son of former Ghanaian international Abede Pele Ayew, even though he is a Muslim, he appreciated the contributions of other faith towards the victory of Ghana’s Under 20 team, but did not talk to Joshua. Dede said he, together with his teammates, prayed to both Allah and the Christian God to deliver victory to them.
Joshua in the video clip, was heard shouting the name of Dede Ayew as if he was talking to the young lad before the penalty shoot-out which the Satellites eventually won against the Brazilians. Analysts believe that the video was made after the tournament, so the Nigerian ‘man of God’ would take credit for the victory. The priest said that he spoke to Dede and had prayer sessions with him as claimed on the documentary. Even though Sellas Tetteh confirmed consulting Prophet Joshua, he denied ever travelling to Nigeria to meet the priest at his sprawling Lagos church as indicated on T. B Joshua Facebook. The coach, popularly called Borborvich, said he met the controversial pastor at his Airport residential area apartment about six months ago. Two media organizations have claimed that President Fiifi Atta Mills telephoned the founder and leader of the Synagogue Church of Al Nations (SCOAN) in Nigeria, Prophet T.B. Joshua, before the historic Black Satellites under 20 World Youth Championship in Egypt and told him to pray for the success of the winning team. According to the media houses, this was revealed by the prophet in separate interviews which were also pasted in a documentary video recording on YouTube and Joshua’s own Emmanuel TV station.
The claim and video footage have however generated some controversy as critics have questioned whether the video was recorded before or after the match. The Synagogue pastor told PM Sports that the Ghanaian President, Prof. Atta Mills, phoned him to seek success for his team before the match. “I told him (Mills) that his team would win if they follow divine instructions. They did and they won the cup to the glory of Africa”. Joshua said: “You know when they sent off that Ghanaian Player from the pitch, the Ghanaian coach phoned me and I told him not to worry. I asked him to tell his boys to defend well and that no goal will be scored during that half and no goal was scored,” he added. In the video, Joshua is seen watching the match from a small office, with other staffers who gave him a cell phone occasionally to speak, as he claims, to the coach Sellas Tetteh. He told Complete Sports, “Mr. President and the coach were constantly in touch with me on the morning of the match. We talked severally before, during and after the match, I told them that they should remain focused on the task ahead of them, with a special warning that they should not hustle to score in regulation time.” Yesterday, the Black Satellites coach Tetteh confirmed that Prophet T.B Joshua indeed assisted the team to bring home the cup. “Joshua was with us on the job and he talked with all the players. He was an inspiration to all of us. He was speaking with us all the time during our stay in Egypt.”
Prophet Joshua told P.M News in Nigeria, “I told P.M. News in Nigeria, “I told the coach that there will be no goals in the first and second halves of the match and that they would go for extra time which will also not produce any goal. I told him that the match will be decided by penalties and that the coach should ensure that Andre Ayew (No. 10) take the first penalty. I said if they do that victory is theirs”. After the victory, the Ghanaian coach was full of praise for Prophet T.B. Joshua for standing by his team. When asked if the Super Eagles of Nigeria will qualify for the 2010 world Cup in South Africa next year, Prophet Joshua said: “Super Eagles will qualify if they play the game as if it all depends on them and pray as if it depends on God.” Meanwhile from Kumasi Morgan Owusu reports that T.B Joshua came under a hail of fire in the Ashanti regional capital for his claims that he assisted the Black Satellites to grab the coveted World Cup. A section of residents who spoke on a number of radio stations in the metropolis, in reaction to the story, collectively condemned the 44-year-old ‘man of God’ for daring to claim credit for the wonderful victory God gave to the nation last Friday in Egypt.
Venting their anger on the pronouncement which was published in the Tuesday October 20, 2009 edition of Ghana's Daily Guide, the furious callers noted that Joshua cannot claim credit for the Black Satellites victory because he does not have what it takes to guarantee that. “If he had what it takes to win the cup for us, why didn’t he do something to ensure that Nigeria who also participated in the tournament won it?” one enraged caller indicated. Another caller noted: “Prophet Joshua should not try to reap where he has not sown because our victory was a heavenly gift from God and not the direction or divine intervention of any person or group of persons”. Collectively, the callers and those who sent their reaction via text messages pointed out that it was about time Prophet Joshua was told in the face that there were equally powerful pastors in the country so he should top taking Ghanaians for a ride, even if he has connection in the corridors of power. The Black Satellites emerged victorious in the just ended FIFA World under 20 Youth tournament which was held in Egypt after a grueling final match against the Brazilians who were the tournament’s favorites. Playing with 10 men for almost 90 minutes, after the team’s central defender Daniel Addo was shown a needless red card, the Black Satellites played their hearts out throughout the regulation and extra time and finally won the match 4-3 on penalties.
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