"IF I BE A MAN OF GOD" ...the burden of prophecy.

As a student in the faculty of Education, a compulsory part of our course work was the Students' teaching experience (STE) otherwise known as the Teaching practice.
The practice was dreaded by students who had no plans of teaching after graduation. The Idea of standing in front of secondary school students to teach just wasn't funny to them. For those of us whose major was mathematics, we knew we were in for a ball!

The most scary part of the experience would be solving maths problems from text books during classes. Don't get me wrong, some of us were bright mathematics teachers. The problem was not intellectual. You see, the maths text books had answers to exercises at the last pages and so students could check to see if their teachers were correct! Does that sound familiar? For most mathematics teachers, the fear of contradiction was the beginning of Wisdom.

Enter Prophesy. I've always been fascinated by the effrontery and temerity of prophets and soothsayers. Forgive how it sounds, but deny it! Deny that you're not "tripped" by the idea of fellow mortals being able to see into the future, deny it! I think it's a beautiful thing. We sit back in churches, mosques and shrines like dazed school students watching them display their prophetic and mystical artistry like a gifted mathematics teacher solving simultaneous equation with panache!

The danger here is that like the mathematics teacher, the prophet is not totally in charge. Sometimes, for no fault of theirs, things could go wrong. The most skillful of mathematics professors would fail to arrive at expected answers if there is a mistake in the equation. It is therefore foolhardy for such a professor to put his career on the line and utter statements like "If I fail to arrive at the answer, I am not a maths teacher!"

However, this is where prophets slightly differ from Maths teachers. A prophet or seer would more often than not put his career on the line just to clear doubts from their followers, hence statements like "If I be a man of God" are commonly used. Pundits believe this is not only inappropriate, but also a big risk. If the prophecies are from God, and God sees all and knows all, it is safe to assume that it cannot change right? Wrong! Bible scholars say God's decisions on issues can be changed. God can change his mind! You don't believe it? okay, see, In 2nd Kings 20, King Hezekiah was sick and God sent Isaiah to tell him to put his house in order and prepare to die. Hezekiah would go on to remind God of His commitment and dedication and God will again speak to Isaiah reversing totally what He earlier said. Imagine that Isaiah told Hezekiah "If I be a man of God, You will die tomorrow!"

Enter Apostle Edikan Eggah. Handsome young man, Pastor, and controversial son of Equally controversial Bishop Josephine Eggah. Edikan is not new in the area of controversy. From Impregnating his baby mama and fathering a child outside wedlock, insinuating on social media that his parents are fighting his marriage attempts to the young lady because she is from a humble background, to dropping out of school to start his own ministry, controversy knows his name!

However, the twilight of Wednesday, 3rd February, 2016 would put the self acclaimed apostle in the news again for the wrong reasons. Earlier in the week, Eggah had put the picture above on facebook with the post "If I be a man of God, the next governor of Akwa Ibom State is Umanah Okon Umanah, if you shout amen, that government must favour..." 

Umanah Okon Umanah, the APC gubernatorial candidate would go on to record a loss at the court of appeal wednesday night.

The post which has now been shared over 50 times, with ridiculous captions has taken Eggah's controversy ratings to a whole new dimension and this may threaten his newly founded church which was already struggling.

At times like this, an advice from veteran professor of Educational methods - Prof. Nssien Ntuk to Teaching practice candidates would come in handy "If the problem is new to you, don't dare attempt to solve it in front of students. before attempting a problem in class, be sure to have solved it several times in your closet. Remember that your image as a teacher must be the one who is always right. You cannot afford to be wrong!"

Can prophets and seers attempt to adopt this measure in their prophetic dealings? Is there a way to double check the efficacy of their "visions" before they drop it?

Meanwhile, in an attempt at damage control, Apostle Edikan Eggah made a post this morning claiming one must make positive prophetic declarations over their families and loved ones. We cannot help, but wish the "Apostle" well.