■ Prominent cleric, Ayodele says President Buhari’s ill health needs divine intervention

By olakunle olafioye

two prominent religious leaders in Nigeria have said that the claim by the Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, who accused some desperate Nigerians of hiring marabouts, clerics and other spiritualists to pray for the death of the President, has no place in the two dominant religions in the country.
Primate Babatunde Elijah Ayodele, founder and spiritual head, INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church and a Sheikh AbdulRahman Ahmad, National Missioner, Ansar-ud-deen Society, who reacted to Onochie’s claim in separate interviews, said such prayer request is alien to Christian and Muslim doctrines.
Primate Ayodele, who like the National Missioner of Ansar-ud-deen, urged Nigerians to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently receiving medical attention in the UK, also urged the President to perish the idea of seeking re-election in 2019.
Ayodele, while noting that the ailing president needs divine intervention, said those urging him to seek re-election in 2019 are those who want him dead.
Ayodele’s submission came days after the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Shehu Garba expressed optimism that the President would win in 2019 should he seek re-election.
Garba while expressing optimism over Buhari’s second term victory should he indicate interest in running again had said the confidence reposed in Buhari by ordinary Nigerians remained unshaken.

What do you make of the alarm raised by the Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, Mrs. Laurreta Onochie who alleged that some Nigerians are hiring marabouts, clerics and other spiritualists to pray for the death of President Muhammadu Buhari?
I won’t blame her, she is doing her work. Nobody will want his benefactor to die. You can go extra miles to protect your benefactor. Somebody who is working in Buhari’s government will always say sweet words to protect and to defend his or her principal. Maybe they have heard, but I will tell you this: No church leader will ever pray for Buhari’s death. No Islamic scholar will also do that. Why? It is because our preaching, our religions do not say we should go and kill or pray to kill somebody. Buhari is not the enemy of the country; he only wants to play his own part. Buhari’s health is not what you take with levity.  Rather it should be taken with all seriousness. But if you see people praying for his death, you also should organize your own prayer warrior to counter their prayer. In a situation where people don’t have enough to do, they talk anyhow but this is not the time to go about and say some people are praying for Buhari to die. It is a time everybody needs to rise and pray for the ailing president to be okay. Every church, every mosque must pray for his quick recovery and sound health including his aides. I think she should have come with a proof to substantiate her claim. She should have been more serious than this. The health of the president of a country is not what we can trivialize. He is the number one citizen of Nigeria so everybody must feel concerned about his health.
How do you juxtapose this allegation with the fact that people across the nation have been organising prayer sessions for the President’s quick recovery?
What the woman said shows that she is not serious about the health of her principal. If she was serious about his health, she would have resorted to praying for the man to get well soon. Buhari needs our  prayers because he has the potential to be one of the best presidents. Nobody is attacking Buhari rather it is his destiny to fall sick after emerging the president of Nigeria for the second time. Let us look at it beyond the physical realm because in Nigeria, most people don’t understand what spiritualism means. So Buhari’s health needs prayers. Beyond medical, let us ask for God’s divine intervention over his health. His first term needs prayers, forget about his second term.  Those who are talking about his second term want to kill him. Please don’t let us play politics with his health. Everybody who loves Buhari must be serious about his or her prayers for him. This is not the time to joke; it is not the time to wish him dead.
Doesn’t the allegation sound spurious to you considering the fact people have been praying for him?
That is exactly what I am saying. The problem could be from the social media. Anybody can publish anything on the social media that is why there is need for us to come up with a regulation to control the social media. This is one of the steps this woman should take. We need to put in place mechanism to regulate the social media. That is why I said the woman is not a serious person. If she is serious there are more to do on the social media. Being the special adviser on social media is a very complicated task. The position requires you to monitor the social media 24/7. You must ensure you get the source of every news item published on the platform.
Don’t you think this allegation may discourage those organising prayers for the president to get well as their intentions may be misinterpreted? 
No, they shouldn’t be discouraged. Those who are praying for the president should continue to pray to God on his behalf. We must know that the ship of the country is at the middle of the sea and we shouldn’t allow it to sink. We need a lot of prayers in this country now than before.