Sovereign National Conference Inevitable

The Eesa Of Oke-Ona Ede and Chairman/CEO of Heltwaiz Herbal Products(Nig.) Limited, High Chief Oladosu Ekunrin held Nigeria’s political space Spellbound by his accurate predictions of socio-political events that played out in the country between the 1990s and early 2000s.Against the backdrop of the current state of unrest in the country, he reflects on some of his notable predictions and warns that convocation of a Sovereign National Conference is the way out in this interview with ISA ISAWADE

Sir, you used to make accurate predictions in the past both on individuals and about the affairs in our country. Can you briefly reminisce about some of those significant predictions that came to pass?

Thank you. If you remember vividly before the June 12, 1993 elections, I accurately predicted that the next president would be kidnapped. That was the headline in Today’s Choice magazine then. A year or two later, the election came up and we all saw what happened to Abiola- more or less like being kidnapped and detained for years till he died. In The Punch newspaper some years later I raised an alarm that what I saw was the death of Abiola in detention. When that prediction came out, I was arrested and questioned by the country’s authorities. But I stood my ground that my prediction was to make people aware of whatever was about to happen and perhaps we could collectively take measures to forestall it. That prediction came to pass. Before the April 1999 elections,I wrote in P.M.NEWS that Chief Obasanjo would be forced on us and that if Obasanjo became president, Nigeria would be worse for it. And that the rate of deaths in the country would be alarming; that a lot of occult and negative forces would be at play; and that Nigeria would almost break up. I said then that the aura of Olu Falae was so superb to the development of the country, and that Obasanjo as a choice would be a disaster. Immediately he came in, over 1000 people got burnt in the East in Jesse Petroleum Explosion. Also in Abule-Egba, Lagos, over 1000 people got burnt through petrol explosion and so on. Why did all that stop immediately Obasanjo left? Look at all the bad things that happened in the country then. Even those who imposed Obasanjo on us regretted that they did it and that is a lifetime regret for them because the level of disasters brought on all facets of our national life by Obasanjo never before occurred in the history of this country. Then, some years ago, I saw a vision on Ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel during his first term in office and I sent two people to him. I sent Chief Ebenezer Babatope to Daniel, that all he had achieved in Ogun State would be swept away by Obasanjo. In that vision, I saw Governor Daniel in the same room with President Obasanjo, and Obasanjo was using axe to dismantle that room in annoyance. I quickly sent Chief Babatope and a prominent person in Ogun State Judiciary to warn him to be wary of Obasanjo. And as at that time, Daniel was one of the best achieving governors in Nigeria. People were hailing him everywhere and I told him that if he was not careful by the time he would be leaving office, his popularity would have seriously waned; that he would be hated by 99% of Ogun State citizens. I sent those people because I didn’t want to make it public then. It got to a stage where somebody suggested that I go to see Daniel myself, but I declined because I didn’t want it to look as if I was looking for favour from the Governor. That prediction also came to pass. I Thank God that all those I sent to him are alive today to bear me witness. When they took the message to him, the reply he gave was that it might be because of the Owu Obaship, that Obasanjo wanted to impose Dosumu on Owu people. But I told the people that it was beyond the Owu Obaship tussle.

When you predicted Abiola’s death, it was very difficult for Nigerians to believe you, especially, after Gen. Abacha’s death when it seem a done deed that Abiola was going to be released and sworn in as president. Even our men of God in the country then were assuring us that he would soon become president. So, we all thought you had goofed. But, suddenly, it happened against all expectations and optimism. Did it happen because Nigerians waved that warning aside instead of taking it seriously?

You see, I was the only person who predicted that Abiola was going to die in detention, and it came out in The Punch newspaper and P.M.NEWS. That was the way God revealed it to me. And I warned Nigerians about it. I shouted aloud that we needed to act fast and pray for God’s intervention to avert it, but unfortunately Nigerians neglected the warning. The pastors were assuring them that Abiola was about to be released and made president. So, Nigerians ignored my warning and went to sleep. Alas! The man was put to death while Nigerians were fast asleep.

You seem to have stopped predicting. Why?

Yes, I stopped predicting because a lot of people were reading negative meanings to predictions. Prediction is meant to control the psyche of a nation. It is revelation by God Almighty through human beings to caution us on certain things. It is meant to alert us about unexpected future events and get us prepared. If it is for good, we make provision for better utilization of the opportunity and if it is for bad, we mend our ways to put things right in order to forestall it if it is preventable, and if it is inevitable, we get fully prepared for it so as to ameliorate the resultant effects of such events. But when people started reading wrong meanings to it I stopped. Even though, God has continued to reveal things to me, the work I am doing now, that is, manufacturing herbal products to heal mankind of deadly ailments through Heltwaiz Herbal Products (Nig.) Limited is also the work of God which He directs me to do and I give Him all the glory.

A long time ago you predicted about the possibility of Nigeria breaking up. Just last year, a United Kingdom-based Belgium Organization, Centre For Community Studies published a report indicating that Nigeria may break up in 2015.This is 2012 and we already have seemingly insurmountable crisis on our hands such as the intractable inter-tribal fightings across the country, pronounced political dichotomy between the North and South, Niger-Delta restiveness, incessant Boko Haram bombings all over the North, and so on. All these have made the call for a Sovereign National Conference by Nigerians louder. Is the dreaded break-up about to happen?

If you remember, Isa, you conducted the interview during which I predicted that Nigeria was likely to break up, considering the political shenanigan at play then, the tense atmosphere, the excesses of our leaders and the curious way corrupt people were hell bent on forcing General Olusegun Obasanjo on us as president in 1999. I warned Nigerians that if we didn’t arrest the situation on time and pray fervently for God to intervene, a few years after it would be difficult to hold Nigeria together. I know that the consequences of failure to reverse the dangerous trend would be catastrophic. I warned that the signs were very obvious and ominous. Now tell me, is the prediction not already coming to pass? Are the parameters not there? Southerners are already leaving the North in droves and vice versa. What other evidence do we need to realise that Nigeria is already breaking up? At the remarkably rousing burial given to Ikemba Ojukwu by Nigerians of all tribes a few days ago, almost everybody there testified to the fact that the factors that drove the late sage to opt for secession are still very much with us over 40 years after. So, I stand by my prediction.

Would you also support the call for a Sovereign National Conference?

In any country where the kind of problems we are facing have been encountered, they have always come together at a round table to talk about the way out. Even where changes occurred through revolution, they still sat together to discuss the way forward before any growth and development happened in those places. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society with over 350 ethnic nationalities, and our problems have been allowed to degenerate to the extent that there is now mutual suspicion everywhere. The Igbo man seems not to trust the Hausa man, the Kanuri man is suspicious of the Hausa-Fulani man, while the Ibibios dread the Kanuris, and the Yoruba man sleeps with his two eyes wide open in between the Hausa and Igbo. People go to their places of worship with their hearts in their mouths, afraid of attacks and parents send their kids to school with their heart palpitating as a result of fear of bombs on daily basis in some parts of the country. People can no longer move freely. Also, almost all the geo-political zones of the country are crying of marginalisation. And curiously, our leaders are still preventing us from sitting down to talk at a round table. They say we must not sit down to talk. Well, my message to them is that failure to convene a Sovereign National Conference or whatever name you want to give to it to talk and collectively determine whether we want to remain together or not, and if we want to remain together under which terms, Nigeria is heading for a full blown disaster. We must call ourselves together and talk about what we want and how we want to structure and govern our country. We must also determine how we are going to effectively check the excesses of our leaders and stamp out the cancer called corruption. May God help us.