The building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, which claimed many lives on September 12, has brought the church’s leader, T.B. Joshua, to the news again. Our correspondent, WAHEED BAKARE, chronicles past incidents that put the pastor in the eye of the storm.
Temitope Balogun Joshua, popular Nigerian televangelist and the General Overseer of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun, Lagos, means different thing to different people. This is why some dubbed him as the most controversial Nigerian pastor and preacher. To others, T.B. Joshua as he is popular known is an enigma that lives in hermetic world. This, perhaps, explains why his “miracles, predictions and prophetic messages,” which his congregation tenaciously enjoys whenever he mounts the podium, are so enigmatic that their authenticity has been disputed for years.
TB, Chris Okotie and Chris Oyakhilome
Joshua is one of the few pastors that do not enjoy the camaraderie that exists among his brother-pastors. He hardly features in major Christian events and programmes conducted in the country. A few of the men in cassocks and clerical collars have called him heretic and will not touch him even with a long pole. One of them, Rev. Chris Okotie, even accused another pastor, flamboyant Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy, of being a member of a cult group masquerading as a faith-based group under the leadership of Joshua.
In 2001, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), an integral part of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the parent body of Nigerian Christians, openly denied Joshua. But Oyakhilome rose stoutly in his defence. The Christ Embassy helmsman told an online news portal, The Nigerian Voice (TNV), in 2009 that, “I remember in 2001, a lot of ministers including Pastor Chris Okotie, Bishop Mike Okonkwo and Pastor Tunde Bakare did say things along that line (that Joshua runs a cult group).
The truth is that they were all wrong. They were getting information from the wrong sources, and it is unfortunate that they believed their wrong sources; incidentally none of them asked me intelligent questions. I hope to write a book on the episode someday. “I have so much to say about all that transpired, maybe for the future. It was an interesting period, but the truth is that what they said was not true. I was surprised when the fact that I related with Prophet T.B Joshua, sparked off controversies. I was very surprised. You wonder why? Because I related with a lot of folks and nobody said anything, so I wondered why they got so mad about this one.
“This was no ordinary person. This was Prophet T.B. Joshua; a man whom most ministers believe is involved in occultic practices. I was surprised that they all said that. Remember that Jesus visited non-followers, non-believers and he was criticised by the religious folks of his day. They said this man eateth and drinketh with sinners. They said Jesus could not be a prophet of God because he ate and drank with sinners. I thought if I related with anybody, it shouldn’t be a problem, even if he was a sinner. There was no reason for that. After all, everybody needs the gospel. So from that stand point I was surprised at their response. It was the wrong response anyway. “I remember that I made a tape then, called ‘Truth on Trial’ and there I said, ‘Just because you hate somebody does not mean I have to hate with you.’
When Jesus related with sinners, they did not change him. So, no matter what they thought T.B. Joshua was, my relating with him shouldn’t have been expected to change me. So, it was very wrong for anyone to have interfered.” When asked by the news portal whether there was any moment he thought he was wrong to have associated with Joshua and other pastors were right to have dissociated themselves from the SCION’s leader, Oyakhilome said, “I knew they were wrong all the time. Maybe I should define something, because the issue was not T.B. Joshua.
They tried to make him the issue. He was not the issue. And I can prove that. The reason I said they tried to make him the issue is this; the president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, became the Vice President of CAN, of which the Synagogue Church headed by T.B. Joshua is a part, Cherubim and Seraphim is a part, Celestial Church of Christ is a part and many other groups. In fact, he became the de facto Vice President of the Synagogue! And nobody said anything about it.
“There could be no better endorsement of T.B. Joshua from the PFN than that. If you could fraternise with all these groups as their Vice President, doesn’t that say something, if indeed any of them was really of the devil? Imagine Paul the Apostle as the Vice President of an occultic group? The point is T.B. Joshua was not the problem. They used him as the reason for their actions which were based on their wrong spiritual perceptions.” But in 2013, Okotie, the Senior Pastor of Household of God Church, Oregun, Lagos, renewed his brickbat against Joshua describing him as a son of the devil during a Sunday service at his church. The pop singer turned pastor equally had harsh words for Joshua’s followers, saying, “They will all land straight in hell because Joshua is of the devil and he is leading his congregation to his master.”
Accusation by ex-church member
While some may want to argue that some pastors were only beefing Joshua because of his rising profile, the Arigidi Akoko-born cleric was again in the eye of the storm when one of his inner devotees, Bisola Johnson, in a video release titled, ‘Deception of the age,’ accused her erstwhile spiritual leader and mentor of using diabolical means to manipulate his followers. In the video, which sold like a hot cake in many churches around the country, Johnson, the voice over girl in many Synagogue’s video and television programmes for many years, accused Joshua of luring her into heresy and later became the man in the Synagogue sex mate. According to her, Joshua used manipulative tendencies to deceive the public and gave them the impression that his miracles were real.
But Johnson was not alone in what many followers and sympathisers of TB considered as a conspiratorial gang-up against their leader. A former top pastor of the church, Paul Agomoh, two ex-members of the church, Nosa Idumumonyi and Francis Egharevha, were on the same page with Johnson. Agomoh at that time told newsmen how members of Joshua’s inner caucus would go to the church’s gate around 4am to interview and screen people waiting to see the G.O. He said whatever the people say would be related to Joshua and formed the basis of his prophesies when the pastor eventually meet them. He also recalled how the church bought wheelchairs and people were brainwashed to sit on them only to give testimonies that they had been healed.
Church’s defence
But such encumbrance has not deterred members of SCOAN from trooping to the Synagogue. To the devotees, Johnson and her co-travellers are blasphemers making uncouth noise and spiteful remarks meant to drown the heavenly-inspired messages and sermons that TB Joshua gives to his exuberant congregation. The church also went to its archive and brought out a video tape in which TB Joshua predicted in 2004 that like Jesus experienced, there would a Judas among his disciplines. This became an alibi for Joshua and his followers. In the video, which is available on Youtube, the chubby cheeks preacher said,
“I am a man of vision and mission. Write it-there will be betrayal among my workers. But greater is He that is in me. God has shown me the name and step and everything. The betrayal may stop from now because the prophesy has come. My time has not yet come. There will be betrayal but pray for the betrayal.” The said video also contained a part in which Johnson as a new devotee confessed her “sins” including how she and her boyfriend used Marijuana and her involvement in questionable relationship with different men before she found a safe haven in the Synagogue. Johnson, some of the church members argued, was psychopathy and not worthy of attention from the congregation.
TB, a tale foretold?
Born as Fatai Balogun on June 12, 1963 Ondo State, TB Joshua was reportedly in her mother’s womb for 15 months before he was born. According to his biography, there was a prediction almost 100 years prior to his birth, “that a young man would emerge from the poor Oosin quarters and that God would use him mightily.” “Another remarkable event occurred when he was three days old, as a large boulder crashed through the roof of his house, missing the baby by mere inches. This incident led to his mother naming him, ‘Temitope,’ meaning, ‘What You (God) have done for me is worthy of thanks.’ “During his elementary education at St. Stephen’s Anglican primary school, Arigidi, he was the leader of the Student Christian fellowship.
He was the smallest in the class but led the prayer during the school devotions and was known as ‘small pastor.’ He was unable to complete his secondary education due to poverty,” the biography reads. Reflecting on his early life, he said; “I found myself in a family background that irritated me. My natural circumstance of birth was poverty. I come from a very humble background. Poverty loomed large in the family. The little education I had was through self-effort. I know many people with a similar circumstance of birth who did otherwise. They allowed their circumstance to influence their will. Their dreams crashed on the rocks of disappointment, failure and setback …In those early years of my life, we knew we would be blamed for what we gave our attention to.”
How the church started
According to the church’s website, the church stated with only eight members many years ago. But today, it receives at least 15,000 people on Sundays during its service. It is also regarded as one the churches that receive foreigners in droves on a weekly basis. Many of Joshua’s devotees believe his call was divine. Giving credence to his divine call and how his clerical work began, Joshua reportedly said; “I was in a trance for three consecutive days, then I saw a hand that pointed a Bible to my heart and the Bible entered my heart and my former heart seemed to immerse with the Bible immediately.
Then the awareness came and I saw the apostles and prophets of old with someone whose head I could not see because He was tall to the heaven and suspended, which I believe was our Lord Jesus Christ sitting in their midst. I also saw myself in their midst. “After a while, I saw a hand of the same tall man, I could not behold His face, which was glittering with an unimaginable light, tall to the high heavens and suspended in the air.
But other apostles I could see their faces, particularly Apostles Peter and Paul, Prophets Moses, Elijah and others. Their names were boldly written on their chests. “I heard a voice saying, ‘I am your God; I am giving you a divine commission to go and carry out the work of the Heavenly Father.’ At the same time, the same hand of the tall man gave me a small cross and a big Bible, bigger than the one that entered my heart with a promise that as I keep pressing in His time and name, I would be given a bigger cross but if I fail, the opposite would occur.
I also heard a voice of the same tall man, I could not see His head, saying, I am the Lord your God who was and who is – Jesus Christ, giving orders to all the apostles and prophets. The same voice said to me; ‘I would show you the wonderful ways I would reveal myself through you, in teaching, preaching, miracles, signs and wonders for the salvation of souls.’ “Since then, I have been receiving in my vision, every year according to my faithfulness to God, a bigger cross that means to me more responsibilities. The Bible that entered my heart symbolised Spirit and life (The Holy Spirit). God’s Word is Spirit and life. He does nothing without His Word.” The church has branches in Ghana and the United Kingdom.
Synagogue, VIPs and celebrities
If there is any church in Nigeria that has received notable personalities and celebrities, the Synagogue will rank high. This, many believe, has also contributed to the high profile of the controversial preacher. Such notable visitors include late Ghanaian President Atta Mills, South Africa’s Winnie Mandela, EFF leader Julius Malema, the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu and the late former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba who once stated that he watched “Emmanuel TV” (the church’s private television station that airs Synagogue’s programmes) daily. Others were notable Ghanaian human rights lawyer, Kwabla Senanu, Ghanaian musician, Denise Williams, Veteran Nigerian Nollywood actress, Camilla Mberekpe, Popular Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke, Tonto Dikeh among many others. They had at different times claimed they received divine healings and had their problems solved at the Synagogue.
TB, sports and predictions
In 2009, Joshua started a football club, My People FC, as part of efforts to engage the youth. Two prominent members of the team, Sani Emmanuel and Ogenyi Onazi played for Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Emmanuel, who now plies his trade as a professional footballer abroad, resided in the Synagogue for several years. Onazi, who plays for SS Lazio, is currently a key member of the Nigerian senior team, the Super Eagles. He was at the World Cup in Brazil. Other notable football stars that had visited the Synagogue included Nwankwo Kanu, Daniel Amokachi, Peter Rufai among others.
According to Wikipedia, the wife of Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson was allegedly delivered of an evil spirit which was behind her husband’s inability to procure a contract with a team since 2011. He has since secured a contract with Turkish club Balıkesirspor. In 2010, qualifications hope of Nigeria taking part in the Mundial was almost lost due to the lacklustre performance of the Super Eagles. But Joshua assured a dejected nation that Nigeria would qualify and this came to pass. The coach of the Super Eagles then, Mr. Shaibu Amodu, whose job was on the line sang praises of the man in the Synagogue to high heavens and eventually capped it with a thanksgiving at the church.
Alleged healings and miracles
Joshua and his “Wise men” had claimed to have healed many diseases such as HIV/ AIDS and even those that had defied medical solutions through prayers. This explains why people with different ailments from different parts of the world converge on the church to seek healing power. But the efficacy of said healing power was disputed when the church was accused of claiming to have healed some HIV/AIDS patients who reportedly died after they were advised to stop taking anti-retroviral drugs. When the Ebola Virus Disease broke out in Nigeria, government delegation visited the church to seek TB’s cooperation and preempt a situation whereby a deluge of infected EVD patients could besiege the Synagogue under the pretext of coming to receive healing.
Humanitarian work
The church has a humanitarian arm, which has reportedly touched the lives of many individuals. Wikipedia says, “A Forbes blogger estimated that Joshua has spent $20 million on humanitarian activities over a period of three years. T.B. Joshua also brokered a peace meeting between the family of the late president of Liberia, Samuel Doe, and the former warlord Prince Yormie Johnson who was responsible for Doe’s death. During this meeting the family publicly forgave Johnson.
Collapse of Synagogue’s guesthouse
On September 12, 2014, a guesthouse on the church premises collapsed killing at least 67 South Africans and unspecified numbers of artisan, while many more were injured. Three extra storeys were being built on the existing three-storey building when it caved in. Although investigation is still ongoing, experts have attributed the cause of the collapse to structural defects.
The state government has also expressed doubt if the church had approval to erect more storeys on the existing building. Quite a number of stakeholders had also urged the government to confiscate the building in line with the existing practice. They also condemned the church members for allegedly preventing rescue workers from rescuing those trapped in the rubble. It was learnt that the church members later allowed the rescue workers after they were persuaded. However Joshua claimed a small plane had circled over the building four times before it collapsed and it may have been an attempt to kill him. But TB Joshua went biblical posting a message on the Facebook titled, ‘HARD TIMES MAY TEST ME, THEY CANNOT DESTROY ME #TBJoshua.’ It reads, “To withstand hard times, stand with Christ. When you face trials, hard times, you can ‘count it all joy’ if you add faith (James 1:2-3). It is through hard times that you gain the necessary experience and maturity to handle whatever responsibility given you.
We are most likely to go astray from God and forget Him when things are easy with us in the world because we often become proud and stupid with wealth and pleasure. God visits His people with hard times that they may learn His way. His ways, though hard to the ungodly men, are desirable and profitable because they lead us to safety unto eternal life.” Known for his many controversies, Joshua often came out unscratched but the building collapse tragedy appears to be a tough one as death toll continues to rise on a daily basis after the tragedy struck last week Friday. Stakeholders are waiting to see how the pastor, whose middle name -Balogun- means warrior will come out successful of this human tragedy or whether it will be another bird of passage.