Lungani Zungu
At age 20, the Nigerian Prophet Temitope Balogun “TB” Joshua was already preaching the gospel in his dusty village of Arigidi Akoko in Nigeria.
A decade later, he was a well known figure across the world through his Church of All Nations, based in Lagos in the southwest of Nigeria.
His Durban-based cousin, Akiri, said Joshua had always been a person who loved church from a young age.
He said it was painful for him to bid farewell to Joshua.
“He was a person that was loved by many people on the African continent. We hope that his good godly work will follow him.”
He would have celebrated his 58th birthday on Saturday. The cause of death was not stated, though it was unclear if this was because it might have undermined his claim that he had the powers to cure Covid-19.
Joshua’s popularity led many people to flock to his church and in 2014 this resulted in his four-storey synagogue collapsing, leaving more than 115 people dead.
Of these, 84 were South Africans.
Among them were Durban business couple, Dr Dickie Ngcobo and her husband Thuthukani Ngcobo.
Their family declined to comment when approached by Scrolla.Africa.
In 2015, investigators found that the collapse was a result of negligence.
Despite this, Joshua walked scot-free.
Akiri pleaded for forgiveness.
“He was a great man that is why many people wanted to always be in his church. But he was not a saint.”
True, Joshua was not a saint, and he was not a stranger to controversy.
He raised the ire of many people when he said he had a cure for gay people.
Many people in Nigeria called for his church to shut its doors.
Many people were stunned and some angry by his claims to being able to cure Covid.
However, Joshua’s church members cheered him on, and not one of his 3.5 million social followers ever challenged him on his claims.
So popular was Joshua that in 2011 he was said to be Nigeria’s third-richest pastor.
Akiri said his family would announce the full funeral details.
Image source: @Emmanueltv06
