DEATH OF A PROPHET
On the second day of TB Joshua’s funeral in Lagos, his disciples took to the stage. A microphone was passed around as more than 60 disciples introduced themselves by name and nationality. They came from 18 different countries, among them Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, the US and the UK. Some seemed barely out of their teens; others were in late middle age, having spent decades serving Joshua, the millionaire Nigerian pastor and self-proclaimed prophet being laid to rest. A senior Nigerian disciple, recently promoted to prophetess, began her tribute. “How to describe someone so indescribable?” she said. “How to define someone so indefinable? Human and divine?”
Joshua died on 5 June 2021, a few days before his 58th birthday. The news spread on social media, before the Synagogue, Church of All Nations, known as Scoan, made an official announcement. “God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home,” the statement read, “as it should be by divine will.” Over a month later, his funeral under way, there had been no mention of a cause of death.
In a city saturated with megachurches and charismatic pastors, TB Joshua stood out. He drew huge crowds on his stadium tours across Africa, Asia and Latin America. His satellite channel, Emmanuel TV, was in households across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Before the pandemic, his church was the biggest international tourist attraction in the country. About 15,000 people would come to Scoan every week. Some visitors came out of curiosity; many came in desperation, hoping for healing or deliverance from evil spirits. George Weah, the Liberian football star turned presidential candidate, took a much-publicised trip to Scoan shortly before winning the 2017 election.
The church is based in Ikotun-Egbe, a relatively poor neighbourhood amid the urban sprawl of the Lagos Mainland, far from the financial centres of Ikoyi and Victoria Island. Joshua’s fame transformed the area into a thriving commercial hub. Markets, banks, hotels and restaurants rose up to meet demand from visitors.
What made Joshua unique was not just his international reach, but the intensity of devotion he inspired in his disciples. They called him “Daddy”, kneeling at his feet when greeting him in his office. They accompanied him on international crusades and philanthropic trips. As well as intensive church duties, they spent long hours memorising hundreds of pages of his teachings, known as Quotable Quotes, which they believed to be the word of God. They lived in dormitories within the church complex. Many of his international disciples came from comfortable, middleclass backgrounds. In following TB Joshua, some had cut themselves off from friends and family, foregoing marriage, education and conventional careers.
“Daddy,” said
