Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://repository.elizadeuniversity.edu.ng/jspui/handle/20.500.12398/1280
Title: Prophesying or Prophelying? Prophets, Prophetic Punditry and the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria
Authors: Adefisoye, Taiwo O.
Keywords: Prophetic Punditry;
Prophetic Postulations;
Prophetic Theaters;
Prophelying;
Nigeria’s democratic experience.
Issue Date: Mar-2017
Publisher: Case Studies Journal
Abstract: Although the 2015 general elections in Nigeria have come and gone, the marks they left behind are indelible and the lessons, unforgettable. The introduction and use of electronic voting option and Smart Card Readers; the odious and provocative nature of political campaigns and jingles; the triumph of the main opposition party and the defeat of the incumbent party after sixteen years of uninterrupted rule, were prominent events that heralded the exercise and thus made the 2015 elections a watershed in the history of electioneering in Nigeria’s democratic experience.The elections which were perhaps the most expensive in the history of Africa also marked the first time an incumbent president has ever lost re-election in Nigeria. Of concern to this work are the roles which prophets, ‘prophetic punditry’ and ‘prophetictheaters’ played before and during the elections. Relying on empirical evidence from direct observations and secondary sources, this work established that Nigeria’s political landscape was wantonly besieged by a barrage of prophecies, prophetic postulations, predictions and calculations which exacerbated tension within the polity and spread confusion among the populace. While certain prophecies strongly avowed bloody and gloomy electioneering exercise, others predicted free, fair and violence-free elections. While certain prophets contradicted their earlier prophesies, other prophets went totally wrong. Thus, this puts a question mark on the sacredness and divine nature of prophecies and prophets particularly those whose predictions were punctured by the outcome of the elections. The paper concludes that politics and religious faith continue to remain interlocked in an (unholy) matrimony in Nigeria’s politics.
Description: Staff Publication
URI: http://repository.elizadeuniversity.edu.ng/jspui/handle/20.500.12398/1280
ISSN: 2305-509X
Appears in Collections:Research Articles

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Volume 6 Issue 3 Paper 6.pdf613.94 kBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open


Items in EUSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.