As the unprecedented closure of airspace across Europe advances into its fifth devastating day, news has emerged that the nations had earlier been warned of the cataclysmic event by a Nigerian prophet. He had predicted it on live television months before the Icelandic eruption that has triggered widespread chaos within the flying industry and has affected well over 2 million passengers…

“I'm seeing in the sky something that will cause discussion among scientists and nations,” Pastor TB Joshua of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations in Lagos, Nigeria had declared on Sunday 17th January 2010. “But this thing will have negative effects.” The pastor later termed the event a ‘natural disaster’, saying the strange incident would be typified by a ‘whitish thing’ falling. “It will stop the whole system and this will come from a hill,” he explained a fortnight later on 31st January 2010. “Its a strange thing.”

On 11th April 2010, merely days before the Icelandic volcano erupted spewing forth ash into the European atmosphere, T.B. Joshua called for a time of fasting and prayer for the nations of the world on the coming Thursday. Events followed in the footprints of his prediction as Thursday 15th April 2010 signalled the beginning of a travelling nightmare. British airspace was forced to close as the volcanic ash from an eruption on Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull glacier wafted slowly over the United Kingdom, pending a lethal safety threat to aeroplane engines.

As wind carried the ash, a pulverised mixture of rock and glass, across Europe in the following days, air-travel came to almost a standstill as much of European airspace was closed for safety reasons, leaving millions of passengers stranded. The incident, said to be the worst in European air travel since World War II, has taken its toll financially with airlines losing an estimated $200 million on a daily basis. And it still shows no signs of abating, with a new ash cloud making its way steadily from Iceland across the British Isles, set to extend the closure of airspace for yet another week.

Reflecting on the incident and its prophecy on Sunday 18th April 2010, Pastor Joshua encouraged people that God was still communicating to their hearts, but they must be willing to listen. “To hear God clearly, you must leave all for God and stop worrying yourself,” he said.

In an earlier sermon titled, ‘Who needs forgiveness’, Pastor Joshua had exhorted congregants to deal with the root of their problems so as to avoid its reoccurrence. “Forgiveness of sin strikes the root of all pain,” he said. Using Psalm 51 and the case of King David of Israel, the pastor advised the congregation concerning their attitude towards sin. “The psalmist asked not to be comforted till first he was cleansed. He saw how much an unclean heart he had and sadly lamented it. David's concern was to get his corrupt nature changed. He knew it was not in his own power to amend it - therefore, he begged of God that He would create in him a clean heart.”

Pastor TB Joshua is well known for his accurate prophetic declarations and extensive charitable activities, as well as for a thriving healing and deliverance ministry. His weekly services are broadcast live on Emmanuel TV, a Christian television station with a growing following across Africa and beyond.