Bishop Asaju Urges Govt to Heed Prophetic Guidance to Avoid National Calamities

At a high-level colloquium in Lagos today, religious scholars and senior clergy warned that Nigeria’s persistent challenges—including economic hardship and insecurity—require a leadership that values “spiritual foresight.”

The colloquium, themed “Shaping Prophetic and Spiritual Leadership for Global Impact,” featured high-level academic and ecclesiastical speakers who moved the conversation beyond simple “spiritual counsel” toward a more structured “Public Theology.”

The event was organized to mark the 80th birthday of Primate Theophilus Olabayo, the renowned founder of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh Worldwide.

Olabayo, a respected prophet, was reputed to have accurately predicted the demise of late journalist Dele Giwa in 1986 and the winner of the 1993 presidential election, Moshood Abiola, in 1998.

The keynote speaker, Rt. Rev. Prof. Dapo Asaju, Bishop of the Diocese of Ilesa and former Vice-Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, postulated that the “prophetic office” is a national insurance policy that Nigeria has largely ignored.

Asaju stated that true prophets act as “watchmen” whose mandate is to warn and guide the nation. He urged the government to leverage the wisdom of veteran clerics like Olabayo to avert further social and political calamities.

The Move Toward “Public Theology”

Beyond the call for spiritual guidance, speakers at the event pushed for a more practical integration of the church into governance.

Prof. Oluwayemisi Obashoro-John of the University of Lagos argued that the church must grow “internal integrity” and move into formal policy formulation.

She noted that faith leaders should be at the forefront of driving evidence-based public advocacy and youth civic education.

In his response, Primate Olabayo, who has been a prominent prophetic voice since 1973, called on politicians to embrace “righteous counsel” as a prerequisite for peace.

He reflected on his five decades of ministry, noting that while the journey has been filled with “affliction by the reason of the rod,” the church remains the ultimate pillar for moral direction in a “fierce and violent” era.

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