Apostle Tommy Yisa Aika, the Primate and Founder of the Glory Church of Christ, Benin, Edo State, has said that God destined Nigeria to be the first African country to win the World Cup, but not with a foreign coach leading the team to Russia.
Aika, a renowned clairvoyant in the state, said the country’s foreign technical adviser, Gernot Rohr deserved accolades for qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup, but that according a vision God long showed to him, only an indigenous coach can make Nigeria lift the highest soccer prize at the Mundial.
He said if his warning goes unheeded, the country will end up badly in the tournament.
He, however, said it was not only Rohr that qualified Nigeria for the World Cup but fervent prayers from people like him as well as the commitment of all Nigerians.
“God long revealed it to me that Nigeria will be the first African country to lift the World Cup but that this can only come to reality with a Nigerian, and not a foreigner, as the national coach.
“Besides, I was as amused as I was disappointed when they said the foreign coach had been paid five months’ salary upfront and his contract renewed for another two years even before we can use the performance of the Super Eagles at Russia 2018 to assess him.
“That’s absurd and it’s a scheme designed to benefit the pecuniary needs of our football administrators,” the cleric averred.
The issue of the Super Eagles qualification for the 2018 World Cup is a miracle, Apostle Tommy Yisa Aika, said, adding, “On the surface, the glory for this achievement should be shared by all patriotic Nigerians.
“But if we make a deeper assessment of it all, we will extend more gratitude to some people than the others. Without sounding immodest, I should be one of the people who deserve such a special consideration.
“You’ll recall that when the Africa World Cup qualifying groups were announced and Nigeria was placed in the same group with Cameroun, Algeria and Zambia, not many gave us a chance.
“The reason being that all of our opponents in the group were rated higher than us in the football world. For instance, Cameroon by the fact that they just won the African Nations Cup trophy, were considered as our superiors.
“Algeria as at that time were tagged as the best team in Africa by FIFA ranking. Zambia were also highly rated, especially coming from the fact that there youth team (under-20), from which the senior squad derived majority of its players, are one of the best in the world.
“It was by the divine grace of God that the Super Eagles qualified. My prayer team and I immediately went into action, doing marathon prayer and fasting even before the commencement of the matches.
“If you recall that in their first match away to Zambia, the Super Eagles triumphed by 2-1 against all predictions of looming failure.
On analysts’ assertion that the employment of Rohr, a foreign coach, played a key role in the sudden transformation of the Super Eagles, the man of God said, “Let such people continue to wallow in their ignorance about spiritual matters.
“In fact, his employment is against God’s pronouncement, that a white man cannot lead the Super Eagles to lift the World Cup. This message had been passed to our football administrators for several years but they remained adamant.
“If you recall that in the match against the Zambians in Uyo despite the wobbling and fumbling by the Super Eagles, they were able to scale through with a match to spare. You will recall that the Zambians even scored a goal that the referee disallowed. All these were made possible as a result of intensive prayers and marathon fasting by me and my prayer warriors.”
