I prophesied Obasanjo’s presidency with fear – Duncan-Williams

Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams says he predicted Olusegun Obasanjo’s ascension to the Presidency of Nigeria long before it happened, but amidst great fear for his own life.

In a recent sermon to his congregation which was replayed on Radio XYZ’s Christian programme ‘Voice of Action’ on Sunday August 4, 2013, the Christian Action Faith Ministries’ Presiding Archbishop and General Overseer said he almost nearly did not announce the prophecy for fear of the worst.

According to him, God first revealed the prophecy to him when he met Ousegun Obasanjo at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Ghana’s national capital Accra under the auspices of the then Inspector General of Police under the Rawlings regime.

“…Just as we were talking, I saw that he [Obasanjo] was elevated, so I said to him, General do you have any plans to go back to politics?”

Archbishop Duncan-Williams said after Mr. Obasanjo answered in the negative, he (Duncan-Williams) told him “no it looks like you have to go back to correct some mistakes you did. You are going back to government to become president”.

He said six months later, while in Nigeria to preach at the invitation of a fellow colleague Pastor, “the spirit said to me, take the microphone and announce that General Obasanjo Olusegun shall be the next president of Nigeria and will lead Nigeria into the next millennium”.

Duncan-Williams said he hesitated in announcing the prophecy at the gathering for fear of persecution by the Abubakar military regime which was at the helm of governance after the death of both Moshood Abiola and Sani Abacha just a month apart.

“…I just knew that this thing didn’t make sense and I wasn’t going to do it, period…then I heard the spirit say to me ‘you are afraid’ and I said ‘yes I’m afraid’ and then the spirit said ‘but I haven’t given you the spirit of fear’...so immediately I knew that my defenses were removed and I knew I couldn’t be afraid”.

“…The Yorubas, I was told at that time, didn’t believe that Obasanjo could be president; they didn’t like him at that time and so I said to everybody, ‘hold your hands, there’s going to be a move of God here right now’…so everybody held their hands and I said ‘that sayest God that General Obasanjo Olusegun shall be the next President of the Republic of Nigeria and will lead you to the next millennium as your president’ the whole place became quiet. Not a word. Nobody clapped. I thought they would clap or say ‘praise the Lord’ [but] nothing”.

He said right after announcing the prophecy, he craftily handed over the microphone to the MC at the programme to say the final prayer while he (Duncan-Williams) quickly exited through the back door and paid a driver to whisk him away to the Murtala Muhammed Airport to leave the country as fast as the plane could fly him.

Brief history Moshood Abiola, who was widely tipped to be president after Military Dictator Sani Abacha’s death, also died on the day he was supposed to have been released from jail, July 7, 1998.

He had been imprisoned by Abacha for treason after having declared himself winner of the country’s botched 1993 elections.

The election results for that year were annulled by the immediately preceding military dictator Ibrahim Babangida, who had come into power in a coup against predecessor coup maker, Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

Before his death in June 1998 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Abacha had announced that elections would be held on August 1, of that year.

He however forced the five political parties at the time to endorse him as the sole presidential candidate.

A few months to the elections, the Punch Newspaper of Nigerian reported that a pastor told journalists at a press conference that Abacha’s attempt to transit from military dictator to civilian president would not be allowed by God.

The pastor claimed God told him Abacha would step aside 'under mysterious circumstances', so that the 'Joseph' from God would take over.

Following Abacha’s death before the August 1 election, the country’s defense chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, was sworn into office as the country's head of state.

Abdussalami Abubakar quickly announced a transition to democracy, which led to the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Famous Nigerian Pastor Tunde Bakare is said to have predicted to Abiola in a prophecy, that the elections would be annulled and warned him against contesting.