A prophecy that the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) would be dismissed through a television announcement was fulfilled three years after it was made, according to a firsthand account by the prophet himself.
Background: Appointment and Conflict at NIIA
In 1986, the prophet was appointed Special Adviser to Nigeria's Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi. When he was offered the job, his boss at the NIIA, Professor Gabriel Olusanya, advised him to reject it. When he decided to accept, Olusanya gave him a bad security clearance, claiming he was too close to his West Indian wife and would not keep national secrets from her. Paradoxically, Olusanya's own wife was also a West Indian, and Akinyemi's wife was British. President Babangida intervened, giving the State Security Service a 48-hour ultimatum to grant clearance.
After less than two years at the Ministry, the prophet returned to the Institute, where he faced petty persecution from Olusanya. Matters worsened when Akinyemi informed him that President Babangida had decided to make him the new Director-General, replacing Olusanya. A staff member named Saleh broadcast the news. After much thought, the prophet declined the appointment, citing a personal crisis that required Christ, not a secular post.
Conflict with New Director-General George Obiozor
When President Babangida stepped aside and Sani Abacha seized power, the Director-General appointment was offered to Dr. George Obiozor, a junior colleague. The prophet expected respite but discovered Obiozor was uncomfortable with him at the Institute. Obiozor attempted to orchestrate his dismissal by accusing him of gross incompetence before the Appointments and Promotions Committee. When that failed, Obiozor wrote a letter stating that due to a bogus reorganisation, the prophet had been prematurely retired at age 42.
The prophet took the matter to God in prayer, presenting the letter to Him. He said, 'I told him the Director-General could only have had the audacity to take such action out of confidence that, with President Babangida now out of power, I have no friends in the new Abacha administration. But I did not need to know any man. All I needed was to know God.' He asked God to answer the letter so that his enemies would know he knows God. The Lord answered with Isaiah 41:10: 'Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'
Intervention from the Presidency
The next day, a colleague named Lateef Aminu reported the case to someone in the Presidency, leading to a phone call from an official in Aso Rock who invited him to Abuja. He flew from Lagos to Abuja and was taken to a high-ranking naval officer. After hearing the details, the officer said: 'This is what we are going to do. By tomorrow, a circular will be sent from the Chief of General Staff to your Director-General, asking him to write you officially within twenty-four hours withdrawing your letter of retirement and reinstating you to your former position. Thereafter, we shall decide what to do with your boss.'
The prophet confessed he was not humble in victory. He boasted to colleagues: 'You people need to know you don't mess around with a child of God.' The letter from the Presidency came, and the Director-General reinstated him. But the prophet reminded the Lord that the officer said 'thereafter, we shall decide what to do with your boss.' Then the Lord told him the Director-General would be unceremoniously dismissed from office on Tuesday through the nine o'clock news of the Nigerian Television Authority.
The Prophecy and Its Delay
The prophet became bullish again, telling everyone at work that the Director-General would be removed the next Tuesday. He declared: 'This advance notice is not coming through Aso Rock. It is coming directly from the Lord God Almighty.' He decided to confront the Director-General in person with the news, but colleagues dissuaded him. Yetunde Ogunseye, formerly managing director of Associated Discount House, advised him not to confront the Director-General since the Lord did not tell him to do so. He heeded her advice and waited.
That Tuesday night, he watched the news from beginning to end, but there was no announcement about the Director-General. The next morning, colleague Margaret Vogt came to pray with him. He understood: something had gone wrong. He had gone out on a limb with a prophecy and been put to shame. He swallowed his pride and spoke no more about it.
Fulfillment Three Years Later
Some three years later, Yetunde Ogunseye came to see him when he was a full-time preacher. She asked: 'Did you watch the nine o'clock network news on Tuesday night?' He had not. She then said: 'George Obiozor, the Director-General of your former office, was dismissed through a television announcement.' The prophet concluded with Numbers 23:19: 'Has (God) said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?'
