TB Joshua: Honour to the Humble Donkey

by Otunba Ade Dandy

THE country, Nigeria, whether the generality of the citizenry acknowledges it or not, is the sole beneficiary of the impact Lagos, as indeed the Christian cleric Prophet TB Joshua, is making not just on the Christian faithful but also the entire world.

With the redoubtable activities of the healer, Christendom is made the better off. Surely, the Christian Association of Nigeria needs TB Joshua more than TB Joshua needs the body. It is CAN’s image that is at stake.

Whatever is the consensus within the Christian fold concerning the enigmatic TB Joshua, in fairness to the concerned parties there is no deviation from the understanding that with the positive role the SCOAN Ministry is playing in the amelioration of the suffering of mankind through charity and faith healing of otherwise terminal disease conditions as much as therapeutic rejuvenation of patients of one trauma or another, Nigeria still has something to offer the world, something uniquely, genuinely positive.

By the benefit of hindsight, it is not as if the then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was guilty of dereliction of duty when he conferred on the prophet one of the highest national honours at the time he did. It is in recognition of the fact that of the less than 1 million visitors that make their way annually across the country’s borders, the majority embark on the trip merely to keep a date with the Lagos prophet at the synagogue of all nations. The exact figure of people so subject to the TBJ magnetic pull may be fit for scrutiny by only the data office.

Nonetheless, whatever the end-result of such exercise, it must be borne in mind that, in the words of the prophet himself, the conferment of Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) on him is honour done to the humble donkey.

Today, whatever the orchestrated shortcomings, it is incontestable that Nigeria still has something to offer. Ordinarily, that the world Headquarters of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations is based in Lagos, Nigeria, is sufficient reason for ecstasy.