THE BBC EXPOSÉ ON TB JOSHUA: The Fallout Continues
The just-released BBC investigative exposé on TB Joshua, revealing years of sexual and physical abuse, torture, bribery, and criminal cover-up, is riveting. It is taking the world by storm. And it is cause for concern.
Tragically, whichever way you look at it, this long-predicted outcome is a dent on Brand Nigeria.
The irony is that for decades, TB Joshua and his so-calledd Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) were once the biggest ‘tourist’ attractions in Nigeria, by far. Daily, plane loads of foreigners from far and wide would land at Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos and head off to Ikotun in search of spiritual nirvana.
I first heard about TB Joshua in the late 1990s. Late one Saturday afternoon, I was at my news desk when a call came in from one of TB Joshua’s converts. He introduced himself as Mohammed and as a former Muslim. I had neither heard of Joshua nor the Synagogue up until then.
“How can I help,” I asked.
“I’m in the U.S. to draw the attention of the media to this amazing man,” he said.
“Tell me about him, I asked.
“Well, he’s a mystery,” my caller responded.
It was late in the evening, and I was not in the mood for evasive or vague responses, more so that he had called me and not the other way round.
“Which other news establishments have you called,” I asked?
“CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS …”
He rattled off a long list of US television news houses.
“You mean you are telling each of these news organizations that your man is a mystery? Is that your line? You can’t be serious,” I said.
To cut a long story short, he promised to send me a package of print material and videos, which he later on did.
Reading the material and watching the videos of so-called miracles, I instinctively knew something was amiss and that Nigeria had produced an evil genius, the likes of which the country had not seen before. This was a street smart manipulator who would easily put the famed Jesu Oyingbo to shame.
Watching the video material, I was put off by the shaming of those who had come to receive promises of healing. They had to hold placards with their names and the specific disease or illness which they were suffering from. In some instances of advanced cancer, attendees had to expose themselves physically no matter where the cancer was located. It was heart rending.
“How can anyone strip desperate humanity of their dignity in this manner and in the name of God,” I wondered.
Many of the foreigners were primarily from South Africa, Germany, and several South Asian countries.
In one of the videos, TB Joshua was addressing a small and exclusive group of Germans. During his teaching, he made a peculiar pronouncement – “I want to prove to you that my power is greater than your power.” This was strange, especially, coming from a supposed man of the cloth for whom such boasts were a rarity.
Anyway, Joshua seemed to never have gotten the email about such etiquette. He proceeded to fix his hypnotic gaze on a particular young man and said, “whether you like it or not, when I command you to raise your hand up with your Bible in your hand, you will not be able to resist.” True to his word, Joshua started wagging his finger in front of the man ordering him to lift his hand high. A struggle of wills ensued, but eventually, TB Joshua seemingly prevailed. He continued preaching and left the hapless hypnotized man with his arm stuck in the air.
Several of the desperate souls looking for healing and redemption who turned up at SCOAN were well known South African Rugby players. Many had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. I would later find out that Joshua would send them to diagnostic clinics that he controlled, where they would be declared “healed” and HIV negative. Several of them, I gathered, would stop taking their antiretroviral drugs and die later on from full-blown AIDS.
I decided to do an exposé and soon after headed to Nigeria to conduct preliminary research and engage with a few journalists who I knew could provide me with even more details.
Unfortunately, one of the journalists would then go on to write an article with the headline – “Victor Oladokun to do an exposé on TB Joshua.”
With my cover blown, I had to put my plans of interviewing the man at the Synagogue on ice. Eventually, it was never to be.
But others were not daunted.
South Africa’s investigative TVprograme, Carte Blanche, would produce two TV programs on TB Joshua. The first was effusive in its praise. It gave temporary legitimacy to a man who had caught the imagination of countless White and Black South Africans.
A second follow-up Carte Blanche report was not as charitable. Actually, it was scathingly blistering. The program followed the stories of several renowned South Africans who had died of their ailments shortly after being declared “healed” by Joshua. Even then, Joshua’s dubious star was not dimmed. South Africans continued to pour in in droves.
There was no stopping TB Joshua.
He spent unheard of amounts of money on PR, media, and his globally viewed Emmanuel TV. His communication ecosystem was second to none.
PFN and CAN, two of Nigeria’s largest umbrella bodies, warned about TB Joshua in vain. Both bodies were either accused of hypocrisy or of being jealous of TB Joshua and SCOAN’s successes. Nevertheless, both Cristian bodies kept TB Joshua at arms length and would have nothing to do with him. An exception was Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, whose seeming endorsement must have been music to TB Joshua’s ears.
The man in the Synagogue was simply a Teflon leader. No matter the allegations, nothing seemed to stick. However, in 2014, following the criminal cover-up of the collapse of a multi-storey guesthouse building in his Synagogue complex, many critics and observers had thought that it would mark the beginning of his end! It was not to be.
Although 116 people died according to official counts, it is believed hundreds of foreigners actually died in the tragic mishap.
The truth is that TB Joshua had been warned several times, according to reports, that the building was structurally unsound. He would not be deterred. He simply wanted it built higher and higher.
A decade later, families and loved ones of so many victims have still not found closure.
Exposing TB Joshua from within was an exercise in futility. Members of SCOAN who went public and tried to reveal what they knew of his nefarious activities were labeled liars at best and in many instances as “mentally deranged individuals who TB Joshua had tried to help.”
Whatever the case, like a cat with nine lives, TB Joshua continued to dodge the bullet of exposure, right up until his sudden demise in 2021.
What Nigeria and Nigerian institutions failed to deal with in “korodo” (secret), as the Yorubas tend to say, the BBC is now doing for us in the full glare of “gbangba” (public).
Sadly, whether we like to admit it or not, the BBC documentary series on TB Joshua is a further dent on “Brand Nigeria.” It also shines the light on the excessive and manipulative shenanigans of many Pentecostal and evangelical pastors who have made a profession out of fleecing, rather than feeding the flock, by any and all means possible.
How Nigeria, PFN, and CAN deals with the fallout from this is anyone’s guess.
For now, my heart simply goes out to the countless victims of TB Joshua’s evil enterprise, who either lost their lives or have been scarred for life. As well their families and loved ones, who still carry the burdens of loss.
For those who have lost their faith and trust in God on account of this wolf in sheep’s clothing, I pray that they will find a way back to childlike faith in God and God alone, and not men and women masquerading as messengers of Light 🙏🏼
- Dr Victor Oladokun is a former broadcaster and a strategic communication consultant.
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