What a dull and uninteresting country Nigeria would be without men like Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka! Such men are all part of the Nigerian mystique and we need them to keep rust from the moveable parts of our brain. One still remembers the times we had men like Professor Godspower Oyewole; Dr. Gabriel Okunzua, a notable parapsychologist; Prophet Samuel Adewole of the Celestial Church of Christ; Prof Sam Akpabot, a musicologist; Primate Theophilus Oluwasanu Olabayo of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh and a host of others. They strutted our landscape with swagger and claimed to have this uncanny ability to predict the future.
At the beginning of every year they would roll out predictions, which would be published in most national dailies. Most of the predictions would be correct because they were safe predictions – “Nigeria would have crises this year!” (Whenever did Nigeria not have crises? It would be news to say that Nigeria would not have crises.) “A famous politician would die this year!” (Well in Nigeria we parade the oldest politicians on the face of the globe, and they were never meant to live forever.)
Occasionally some of them became more adventurous and predicted something more direct and precise. But guess what? Whenever such a predicted event did not take place, they would have a ready explanation. Something like, “At the time I made the prediction the rings of Orion were outside Jupiter. But when the event was to happen, it entered the realm of Saturn and that change the cosmic realm and so things turned out differently.” Hm! So why did you not know about this earlier or when you made the prediction? Wetin concern Orion with onions?
When we had the unfortunate death of that superstar of blessed memory, Sam Okwaraji, the nation was in mourning. One of the self-proclaimed “fortune tellers” set sail on our tears – he was very sad that he did not watch that football match. According to him, if he had watched that match he would have seen the spirit of death hanging over the late Sam Okwaraji on his television and he would have cast the spirit out. See what I mean?
Some of them relished predicting the results of football matches, but if their prediction did not fall through, they would quickly blame it on Saturn or Jupiter. Oh! In case you wonder who Saturn and Jupiter are, they are planets in our universe which stand some distance from the earth. How they affect Nigeria and how they rule over our affairs, one does not pretend to understand. But since the planets are not inhabited, no one would speak for them and they may as well take the rap.
Reverend Father Mbaka is not, of course, involved in such nonsense. He has no interest in football and he has never attempted to predict football scores. Predicting football scores about Nigerian teams is a very hazardous enterprise these days and it is not lucrative.*** Mbaka has limited himself to predictions about politics which are more lucrative – and could lead to an invitation to Aso Rock.*** As a supporter of the APC who campaigned for President Buhari in the elections and predicted his victory, he went to Aso Rock and had the unenviable distinction of standing with the President for photo shots. Many cardinals in his Church have not shaken hands with the President before. That is because they are more concerned about shepherding their flocks to heaven, than meeting the President. Not Mbaka!
Mbaka’s is a chip off the old block. His latest prediction rings with the kind of ambivalence of yesteryears. According to media reports, he said that based on his recent vision concerning President Buhari’s ailment, “he was very concerned about the President’s wellbeing and believes he may not survive his illness.” He blamed the President’s enemies for his travails. (Mbaka should know that the President is not a young man and he is bound to be ill from time to time – he should not start blaming the PDP for the man’s health problems). But in spite of that Rev Mbaka stated that “with sincere and honest prayers Buhari could pull through and return to normal health.”
Now that is just the kind of prophecy we are now missing in this country with the passing away of the generation of seers. You see it as the kind of prophecy any smart man would give and never go wrong. If the President fails to survive his sickness (God forbid), you would sit back in your chair, cross your legs and say with all the airs of a prophet “I saw it and I warned Nigerians.” And if he pulls through? Better for you, you pack your bags and head up to Aso Rock and tell the President, “You see, you are alive because I prayed for you. It is my prayer that is keeping you alive.” One is beginning to watch this Rev. Mbaka closely. One wants to join the prophets. Let me start with one prophecy as statement of my interest – I have a vision that it may either rain or not rain tomorrow. You want to bet?
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