Veteran journalist and elder statesman Chief Tola Adeniyi has revealed a stunning prophecy made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about his return to power, 20 years before it happened.
Speaking on The Edmund Obilo Podcast, Adeniyi recounted a conversation he had with Obasanjo in 1988 at his Ota farm. At the time, Obasanjo had long left office as Nigeria’s Head of State (1976–1979) following a military handover to a civilian government.
“Obasanjo is a lucky man. He is somebody no one can fight. He is a mysterious human being,” Adeniyi said. “In 1988, I went to Ota, we were very close. I was sleeping in his house.
He told me that the office he left, nobody would be there until 20 years. He said that for 20 years, no civilian would take it and that he was going to be there. And at exactly 20 years, he became head of state.”
Adeniyi’s account suggests that Obasanjo had foreseen the political trajectory of Nigeria, even while in retirement.
True to his words, Nigeria witnessed a series of military governments between 1979 and 1999 with no civilian occupying the presidency until Obasanjo himself was elected in 1999 exactly 20 years after he left power.
Obasanjo’s return to office remains one of the most remarkable political comebacks in Nigeria’s history.
From being imprisoned under General Sani Abacha to later emerging as a democratic leader, his journey reinforces the perception of him as a man of destiny.
Adeniyi’s revelation adds a new dimension to Obasanjo’s political legacy, portraying him not just as a strategic thinker but as someone who seemingly foresaw his own return to power.