Prophet TB Joshua was born on Wednesday, 12th June, 1963 to agrarian parents at Arigidi Akoko, in modern-day Ondo State, Nigeria. The indefatigable Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua was a citizen of a small unnoticed city. I can write no better eulogy but to restate my first-hand story I heard about him, his philosophy, and his ways and personality.
Prophet Balogun Joshua found faith in his early childhood and fell in love with sports as a teenager. He played and followed the developments in the soccer world with a passion. He was tough on the ball but fair on the competition and his teammates alike on the field of play. Nothing ruffled him, not a hard tackle, a rough player, or bad officiating. Yet, he was as gracious in defeat as in victory; he met every situation and outcome with an infectious smile. As a citizen and young adult, he was the epitome of candor, love, and grace in the community. As a man, he was a beacon of hope to a people, a land, and the nation he loved so dearly.
Nothing could have prepared Prophet T. B. Joshua for his roles as a titan of the faith and a philanthropist than the way he survived and overcame the poverty and hardship of his early life. The boy whose education was hampered by financial difficulty became the man who sponsored thousands of financially-challenged students through various local and foreign universities for high degrees up to the doctoral level in all fields of study. While he worked to avoid being homeless as a young adult, he housed and supported housing and schools for the homeless and their children. The poor young boy who endured hunger and got-by on menial jobs as a teenager fed millions and employed hundreds worldwide as a man without recourse to any religious, racial, or cultural prejudices. For him, humanity is one big family, one household of God’s children.
Let us not forget, the founder and General Overseer of the Synagogue Church of all Nations ( SCOAN), who was awarded the national honor of Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for his meritorious contribution to nation-building, was a boy who could not afford taxi fare to the very next community. Yet, he brought the whole world to his Segun Irefin Ikotun location of the SCOAN by the thousands. He reached and touched the world’s extremities with his charitable giving, including medical and financial assistance to the people buffeted by wars and natural disasters at home, in Africa, and in faraway places in Asia and the America. The preacher who became the pillar of support for the orphans and the widows drew courage from his personal experience as someone who lost his father in his early childhood.
In a brutal world devoid of compassion, he was compassionate and became succor to the hopeless, the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, and the infirm. The boy who could not afford a soccer ball became the sponsor of several local talents to become successful professional soccer players abroad. As a boy, he could not afford a kerosene lantern, but he bought power transformers and paid electricity bills for millions of people as a prophet. As he mingled with and counseled the princes and the powerful rulers of this world as a bishop, he remained firmly rooted in advocacy and support for his primary constituency: the poor and the downtrodden. Neither fame nor fortune could rob him of his early humility and friendliness; he was humble till the end.
I do not doubt the possibility of differences of opinion. After all, there are always two sides to every good coin. Despite his spiritual gifts and his calling as a prophet, he never considered himself a saint or an angel. He embraced his humanity in every way and was never oblivious of the frailty, vanity, and fallibility built into humans, including himself. No wonder he always described the duality of his mission, the prophet and the man T. B. Joshua.
The prophet lives on, but T. B. Joshua, the man, is frail, fallible, and dies. The books of Romans 3:10 and Mark 10:18 could not be explicit enough about our shortcomings and the inherent depravity of human nature.
Our beloved Pastor T. B. Joshua was no exception and he was indeed human.
While I can write about the good works and the fine attributes of Prophet T. B. Joshua ad infinitum, I must also recognize, as he did, and as we all should, that our brother was not without his weaknesses and imperfections. Despite his earthly flaws, he lived an exemplary life, brought succor to the oppressed, and inspired hope in the middle of abject hopelessness.
Our high priest was the proverbial stone that the earthly builders refused in the summary of the matter. He did not only become the chief cornerstone, but he helped others find acceptance and relevance. He was the embodiment of success through hardwork and the man who exerted himself immensely and profited greatly with his limited God-given talents.
Our Reverend was a bright light in the highest dark mountain of the world that cannot be hidden and the very symbol of the biblical injunction expressed in the book of Romans 12:11. He enjoyed and executed his hectic schedule with all his might as if his life did not matter much on the grand scale.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 summed his tireless work ethics the best. He completed his work, leaving nothing for the grave. So, he was not caught unawares when the curtains of his earthly sojourn were drawn on Saturday, June 05, 2021. He rested in the Lord just a few minutes after his last sermon, leaving no stones unturned.
Temitope Balogun Joshua was born on Wednesday, became Christian on Thursday, wrought miracles on Friday, preached, and died on Saturday. There is no disputing the fact that he did his humble best and left indelible marks on the sand of time between those four days in just a week shy of 58 years.
The entire people of AkokoLand appreciate and mourn this illustrious patriot, the late Prophet T. B. Joshua, who was a blessing to humanity.
Furthermore, it is a honour to have known and related with the late Prophet T. B. Joshua as a brother, a Christian, a father figure and a fellow citizen of AkokoLand. Therefore, with a heavy heart, I say that AkokoLand and the world at large have lost a beacon of hope, Christiandom lost a titan, but I rejoice because heaven gained a citizen.
May the soul of our departed father, brother, friend, son, uncle, cousin, prophet, and husband rest peacefully till we meet to part no more at the feet of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Engr. Dr. (Mrs.) Funmilayo Waheed-Adekojo
FunmiAyinke
