It has always been my wish to visit Prophet T B Joshua while he was alive ,a lot of things have been going through my mind there have so many stories about his person that I've always wanted to ask him ,but for whatever reason , I couldn't make it.
There have been several attempts made by one of his media aides ( who is a frontline editor to make this happen ,because he told me severally that the man really wanted to see me ) ,but something will always come up which botched the meeting.
What I thought would have been a final attempt at such meeting was when Pastor T B Joshua decided to donate N5m to one of our colleague who was sick then ,unfortunately my exam in school made that impossible ,
It therefore came to me as a shock to hear about his demise on 5th June 2021.
I learnt about very early before many of our colleagues because of my inner contacts there.
To me it was a missed opportunity, atimes on this job you have to break the odds and take certain risks.
Anyway yesterday ( Monday ) gave me an opportunity to visit the Synagogue of All Nations at Ikotun area of Lagos.
I got a call few days ago to come to Synagogue ,I didn't want the opportunity to pass me by ,despite the fact that I was in Ondo, I informed the caller that I'll make it.
On arriving the place at about 10.45am the first I noticed was that the place is totally devoid of the crowds that characterised that place in the past.
You could hardly see anyone around the premises but for a few security men .
Synagogue from what I saw has five entrances, I was directed to go to the fifth entrance where I will be attended to.
Each of the entrances have a condolence register placed there and manned by some officers of the Church
Almost directly opposite the fifth entrance to the left was a fenced compound, you could see the debris of a collapsed building ( I was informed that was where the collapsed hotel of Synagogue stood ,over 100 people lost their lives in the unfortunate incident ( mostly South Africans and foreigners )
After the normal formalities I was asked to wah my hands ( following the COVID-19 protocols)
Thereafter i was ushered into a hall full of journalists from other media houses.
The event was to formally to announce the demise of the Prophet and the activities being put in place for his funeral .
At the end of the Press Conference, I stepped out to ask some questions .
There is no single person I spoke to that didn't have something good to say about the man.
Several Keke drivers and Okada riders rendered prayers for him
A particular Keke man broke into tears when I mentioned his name.
He told me T B Joshua bought the keke for him despite the fact that he is not a member of his church ( he is a moslem )
Some many others had words of praises for him.
According to them it was like Ikotun died with T B Joshua because commercial activities was at its lowest ebb .
On Succession
His wife is currently heading the Church
For those asking why T B Joshua did not cure himself or foresee his demise.
They've forgotten that despite saving lives ,doctors die too several men of God have died ,recently the son of Pastor E A Adeboye also died
Death can come to anyone at any time.
T B Joshua from what I gathered had a very mass estate some kilometres from the church where he lived
It is like a paradise of sort with all manners of edifices
He was scheduled to travel to Southern Sudan where the country was to give him the Higest Honor bestowed on any individual for his effort at bringing peace to country
With the death of T B Joshua many dreams died
His burial arrangement
July 5th ..Candlelight Procession 6pm ( Private Service )
July 6- 7 ..Tribute Service 10Am ( Opened to the Public )
July 8th 11- 5pm ( Lying in State for people to pay their tributes )
July 9th ..Internment
July 11th .. Thanksgiving Service .. 9- 11am ( Open to the Public )
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE .
Chris Kehinde Nwandu is the Editor In Chief of CKN News