In life, some people have crawled so that others may walk, some have walked so that others may run, and some have run so that others may fly.
There is nothing that exists that doesn’t have a beginning, and in the beginning, there were people who held the fort for others to enjoy today.
In the prophetic realm of Nigeria today, Primate Theophilus Olabayo of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh Worldwide is that one person who gave so many prophets we see today the courage to delve into several things.
His ministry and personality, which many observe from afar, is the reason we have fearless prophets still operating in the country—prophets who don’t mind saying the truth to power regardless of the consequences. Without Primate Olabayo, many of them whom we see today may still be hiding behind the four corners of their churches.
Now the Big Question: Where Is Primate Theophilus Olabayo?
For the newbies or Gen Zs who have not come across Primate Olabayo, permit me to take a deep dive into some of the activities of this phenomenal prophet who was a very strong voice in the ’90s, especially in the prophetic realm.
One of the distinct features of Primate Olabayo’s prophetic ministry is the publication of a prophecy book titled Today, Tomorrow in 1975—before the likes of Ositelu started publishing Asotele, also a prophecy book which Primate Olabayo initiated.
After that, we had people like Professor Godspower Oyewole and Dr. Gabriel Okunzua. We also had Bishop Okeke, who was in vogue in 1978 but didn’t spend so much time on the scene before going into extinction.
We also had Primate Elijah Ayodele, who started his ministry in 1995, then Prophet Marcus Tibetan—both known to be fearless speakers.
Then came Prophet TB Joshua, whose church was initially known as a miracle centre before he started doing prophecies. He was only known to perform miracles in the late ’90s but started giving prophecies in the early 2000s.
We also had Bishop Nwake from Imo State who used to give prophecies, then the generation of the likes of Prophet Olagunju in the early 2000s came into the picture.
We also had Prophet Olawale Kogberegbe, who started his prophecy on Sketch Newspaper and reigned for four years before we stopped hearing from him. He was renowned for his demonstrations with caskets for evangelism.
Among the generation of the 2000s was Apostle Johnson Suleman, who came with the mantra “Apostle Suleman all the way” and became popular for prophecies around 2011. But probably due to several scandals and criticisms, the prophetic aspect of his ministry has phased out.
Also, we had Prophet Joshua Iginla, an Abuja-based prophet who became popular for giving out more than 32 cars in a day during one of his birthday celebrations in 2015.
In this same light is Prophet Olujobi, whose prophetic ministry has almost been swallowed by criticisms.
We briefly had Prophet Okikijesu in 2022, and within six months, he disappeared from the scene.
Even beyond Christendom, we had an Ifa priest, Baba Eletuibon, who always had yearly prophecies on Atoka Oduduwa and Alaroye Newspaper, though we don’t hear about him anymore.
There was also one Apostle Omotosho Tope Joseph, who came up in 2015 during Nigeria’s election, and within one year, we stopped hearing about him.
Some of the new generation of prophets we have today include Bright The Seer and Prophet Boma, who is known mostly on TikTok.
We have had several prophets who didn’t even get mentioned in this piece. Although many of them today are no longer operating in the prophetic, either due to old age, criticism, or some other reasons, about three of them—Primate Elijah Ayodele, Prophet Marcus Tibetan, and Prophet Joshua Iginla—are still very much active on the prophetic scene in Nigeria.
Most especially, Primate Ayodele and Prophet Tibetan both of them appear to have followed the path of Primate Olabayo in the area of publishing prophecy books annually.
Primate Ayodele started publishing prophecy books in 1995 and has been doing that for 31 years. His prophecy book is titled Warnings To The Nations.
In the same vein, Prophet Marcus Tibetan has been publishing his prophecy book, titled Revelations, annually for several years.
These are the two major prophets who follow the same path as Primate Olabayo in terms of courage, fearlessness, prophecies, prophecy books, and several others.
With the grace these prophets have enjoyed—especially the two distinguished prophets who are still much talked about—one begins to wonder why these men of God are not paying homage to Primate Olabayo.
Before they walked the scene, Olabayo had been prophesying on the international scene. They all watched him, and he most likely mentored them from afar. Why then do they not celebrate this unique prophet?
Just like Primate Olabayo never cared about his critics, Primate Ayodele is also one thorn in the flesh of his naysayers because they have called him several names, yet he never cared. He has continued to be relevant in the prophetic scene and is the most talked-about prophet in the country today.
Tibetan, too, though heavily criticized, has never allowed it to get to his ministry. His prophecies continue; all of these are what made Olabayo’s ministry—why don’t they talk about him?
Although Primate Ayodele in 2014 visited Primate Olabayo’s church, surprisingly, to celebrate him, he has always acknowledged him as a true prophet in most of his press conferences, but is that enough? Why did Primate Ayodele stop? These are questions waiting for answers.
Even if others who are not popular anymore don’t have the strength, Primate Ayodele and Prophet Tibetan are still active on the scene.
These two men should be able to lead a cause to celebrate people like Primate Olabayo, who was there before them. He is an icon in the prophetic realm, and even though he is no longer active like before, his legacy remains. He truly deserves to be celebrated.
This is what some Christian associations like CAN, PFN, and Unification should be doing—celebrating the icons who have been there for decades—but we hardly see things like this.
However, we mustn’t wait for them to act.
This is a challenge to Primate Ayodele and Prophet Tibetan to pick up this responsibility. Primate Olabayo needs to be celebrated.
