Are Nigerian pastors telling us things that have already happened?

Meanwhile, your pastor kneels down in his prayer room, looking up to the high heavens with 2017’s prophecies in his hands, asking fervently, “please tell me what will happen this year”.

Getting prophecies at the beginning of the year has become as normal as Harmattan on a cold December night.

As the new year begins, pastors around the country release their lists of predictions outlining what Nigerians should expect as they try to navigate the unknown.

In a way, it is very understandable that this has become a thing.

As a very religious people, Nigerians look to their faith for certainty, and while God cannot be seen, their pastors, in the case of Christians, are the next best thing.

Why does this look like we've seen it before?

The only problem is that some of the prophecies we’ve heard for 2018 seem like the same prophecies we saw for 2017.

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Even worse, some of them just seem like a list of all the things that happened in 2017, like an end of the year review.

A good example is the 2018 prophecies ‘released’ by RCCG’s General Overseer Worldwide, Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Mr Adeboye is one of Nigeria’s most influential persons who is also noted for his careful choice of words.

The minister reeled out his 2018 prophecies for individuals, Nigeria, and the world at the church’s Cross-Over Service held at its Redemption Camp on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

If you need an idea of the scale of the services and the prophecies, the RCCG’s cross-over service is watched in over 198 countries, where the church has tens of thousands of branches.

Pastor Adeboye said that there will be rays of hope in 2018. On the international front, he predicted that there will be record-breaking temperatures both high and low.

ALSO READ: Everything your favorite pastor said about Buhari, Obasanjo, Atiku

He also added, among other things, in 2018, there will be fewer fire outbreaks and more floods.

Hellooo?! Sound familiar? That’s because all of these things happened last year.

Last year saw some of the worst temperature fluctuations in history, thanks to a little thing called global warming.

In Nigeria, flooding was one of the problems of the year. Apart from the Lagos floods that even made international news, there were floods in Benue, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and parts of Ogun State.

Or better still, there is an entire batch of dated prophecies by Apostle Suleiman, a minister who predicted the demise of Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai in 2016. Just in case you were wondering, El-Rufai is still alive and well.

Releasing 50 powerful prophecies for the year, Suleiman said the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, would make governorship a family affair.

He predicted notably that there would be a lock jam between the presidency and the Senate over the 2018 budget, also adding that new stars will take over Nollywood.

Do a Google Search with any of these prophecies and you will see tons of news articles on the topic. Why? Rochas Okorocha already made government a family affair by appointing his sister as Commissioner for Happiness.

There have been lock jams between the presidency and Senate over the budget since 1999. And in case you haven’t noticed, new stars like Dare Olaitan, Zainab Balogun and Akah Nnani are already taking over Nollywood.

ALSO READ: Here's all your favourite pastiors said about Buhari, Obasanjo and Atiku

There’s also the fact that most of these prophecies are very vague. A prophecy is supposed to outline what will happen, yet among the releases for 2018 you will find generic statements that give you very little to work with.

A favourite example is Pastor Adeboye’s statement that Goliaths will fall in 2018, or Apostle Suleiman’s that Shoprite Lagos should guard against a major raid.

Dear Apostle Suleiman, there are at least 4 Shoprite malls in Lagos. Help us to help ourselves.

To be fair, the fact that these prophecies are familiar does not mean they will not happen again.

Some of these occurrences are part of a trend and the fact that they occur in prophecies may mean they will continue to happen in the new year.

ALSO READ: Like Adeboye, Prophet Nwachukwu sees a bright 2018

Also, if you’re willing to believe this, the vagueness could just be down to how the prophecy was passed across.

Around the country, many faithful Christians are looking to these prophecies to help them prepare for the year ahead as they have in years past and that alone gives them some validity.

Whether you’re a believer or a cynic, we’ll see what happens. The end of 2018 is only 364 days away when you think about it.