On December 31st 2015, Prophet T.B. Joshua prophesied that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari would face ‘overwhelming pressure’ which he would ‘not be able to resist’ to devalue the naira, a statement that subsequent events have increasingly confirmed.
“The president will do everything to reject revaluation of the naira – which is a good idea from a good leader,” Joshua stated in a live broadcast on Christian television network Emmanuel TV during a special New Year’s eve service.
“But there will be overwhelming pressure which he will not be able to resist. Nigerians, support and pray for your leader. The future is crying for help.”
Four days later, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief, Christine Lagarde, embarked on an official visit to the West African nation.
Underneath the polished financial rhetoric, high on the agenda was a clear push for Buhari to devalue the naira, heightened by the drastic reduction in oil prices worldwide, Nigeria’s major source of revenue.
Influential financial newspapers have reiterated this call with media such as Financial Times, Forbes and Bloomberg blunt in their appraisal that economic disaster was nigh in Nigeria lest drastic action be taken by the government over the currency.
In an article published Saturday January 30th 2016 titled, ‘Hope The Naira Falls’ by The Economist, the magazine stated, “President Muhammadu Buhari is repeating an economic error he made as dictator 30 years ago,” citing the President’s refusal to devalue the naira amidst growing pressure.
“Instead of letting the naira depreciate to reflect the country’s loss of purchasing power, Mr Buhari’s government is trying to keep it aloft,” the magazine stated, reminding people of the detrimental consequences Nigerians faced when Buhari attempted the same policy during his last stint in power.
Among those calling for devaluation is the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, who said devaluation was necessary as the CBN would not be able to sustain its current forex control policies on the long run.
With global economic worries rising due to the continuing reduction in oil prices, other oil-producing nations from Angola to Russia and Mexico have let their currencies weaken.
However, the central bank of Africa’s largest economy has determinedly pegged the naira at 197-199 per dollar since March to stem its slide, despite it selling for 306 per dollar on the black market.
The policy has led to a shortage of foreign-exchange and been widely criticized by investors and businesses, who blame the restrictions for exacerbating the country’s economic slump and discouraging potential investors.
However, despite the warnings from economic experts, Nigerian newspapers such as The Punch, The Nation, Daily Sun and Vanguard reported on Friday January 29th 2016 that President Buhari insisted on refusing to follow advice to devalue the naira.
He likened devaluation of the Naira to having it murdered and said that those advocating for devaluation needed to convince him further, adding he was not ready to inflict more hardship on the poor citizens of Nigeria.
But according to a report by Forbes titled, ‘Nigeria Faces ‘Bleak’ 2016 As Currency Devaluation Looms’, the issue is not ‘whether’ devaluation will happen but ‘when’.
Intriguingly, the other predictions given by T.B. Joshua at the start of 2016 have also started coming to fruition.
“More African countries will be under siege by terrorists because of pros and cons in choosing leaders,” he warned in the same broadcast, subsequently uploaded on YouTube and viewed up to 300,000 times.
The prophecy took on renewed meaning when terrorists stormed a popular hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on January 15th 2016, killing 30 and injuring countless more – just days after a new government was sworn into power.
On January 3rd 2016, Joshua gave a worldwide warning about the volatile nation of North Korea. “I am seeing an arrow from there and it will affect the world,” he soberly stated, further adding, “there are some weapons there the world does not know about”.
Merely three days later on Wednesday January 6th, North Korea announced that it carried out a “successful” hydrogen bomb test, a claim that shocked the world and received international condemnation.
In the same service, the cleric specifically warned countries of Southern Africa about drought which would take a serious toll on the farming industry.
“There will be little rain at the wrong time, which is not good for farming,” Joshua warned the SADC countries. “Many farmers will be discouraged,” he continued, calling on the government to build “dams and irrigation mechanisms using available water from the sea.”
IRIN, a world humanitarian news service, reported on Thursday January 28th 2016 that Southern Africa is facing the threat of extensive crop failures this year as a result of record low rainfall in a region in which 29 million people are already going hungry.
“With little or no rain falling in many areas and the window for the planting of cereals closing fast or already closed in some countries, the outlook is alarming,” the World Food Programme has warned.
Joshua was recently named among the most famous prophets in history by an American ranking website, Ranker.com.
His ministry has posted numerous videos on YouTube, claiming he has prophesied world events such as the death of pop legend Michael Jackson, the disappearance of Malaysian Airline MH370 and the terrorist attacks perpetrated by ISIS militants in Paris, France.