To be foretold is to be forearmed
Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua aka TB Joshua, Founder and Head of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, last Sunday in a sermon to his church members spoke of a prophecy highlighting foreign attacks on Ghana and Nigeria by Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
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And immediately his words hit the ground there was an avalanche of backlash from several quarters in this country, including journalists and even pastors. But I do not see why the man should be bashed even if he was hallucinating.
Prediction
After all a prophecy is only a prediction and it can either come into being or be missed completely as had happened many, many times the world over.
I am not writing in defence of the Prophet but only to suggest that he is only human and therefore can make mistakes.
What I think the man intended with his prophecy was to draw the attention of people in the two countries to the challenge confronting them in the face of worldwide terrorism.
As many would understand, Ghana is not immune from terrorist attacks. As for Nigeria, that country has been in the cross-hairs for some time now. And for a man of God to come out to reveal what he has perceived in the spirit, I think calls for prayers and care to be taken to avoid danger and not condemnation.
Anybody who has followed TB Joshua and his prophecies would agree that some of them had come true.
Security
Now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, it is up to the country’s security agencies to up their game further and ensure that citizens go about their duties without fear of an attack.
The people also have a role in making their security certain by providing the security agencies with information relating to anything they may find unusual in their localities and places of work.
It had been the thinking that even though terrorist acts were happening in some parts of West Africa, certain places including Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire for instance, were not attractive.
While wishing it did not happen to our beautiful country, I nevertheless think that it would be appropriate if the public and schools and workplaces would be offered lessons from now on what to do in the event of a terrorist strike.
How do you conceal yourself when caught in the middle, how do you help the wounded and how do you get information out for help for example would be useful.
There must be mock drills, if you like, because whether we like it or not terrorism has assumed a global dimension and Ghana is not immune to it.
Undesirables
The presence in this country of the GITMO two, the three South Africans and some preachers from Pakistan for instance, among a host of others, whose real motives for being here are still being investigated and discussed, show that we need to close our ranks such that we do not allow some undesirables to pass through our fingers undetected.
We acknowledge the porous nature of our borders and so TB’s prophecy should be an awakening for us to gird our loins and make our security a top priority.
A trademark of the terrorist is to cause considerable damage and that is why he or she prefers crowded places.
As such in this election year when political parties would be mounting platforms during their campaigns they must also make it a point to ensure security for themselves and their supporters.
They however need assistance from the state security agencies who have the expertise to handle the situation in the event of anything untoward happening.
So Prophet Joshua has spoken about what he thinks would happen and it is up to us to either take what he says seriously or treat it as child’s play and go to sleep.
I know for sure that the country’s security agencies are on the alert but it would also spoil nothing if they go on heightened alert this weekend as the prophet has mentioned.
The sages say, a word to the wise is enough.
