TB JOSHUA’S SYNAGOGUE CHURCH-THE
TOURISM DIMENSION
BY SOLA OJEWUSI
So much has
been said and written about Prophet T.B Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All
Nations, SCOAN. In fact yours sincerely is one of the earliest journalists to
have been to, seen and written about this international organization at the
early stages of its trajectory. Then, because of the novelty of the Prophet’s
styles, so much has been said and deduced around the nation and the world. But
in spite of the shenanigans, the hear-says and style-criticism of this
interesting church, one way or the other has mushroomed from seemingly
primitive beginning to an international phenomenon. In those days mischievous
critics and stay-at-home writers had dubbed T.B Joshua “primitive,’’ ’’uneducated’’,’’rash’’,’’satanic’’etc.
Due to the astounding works of miracles in the church, some believed Joshua must
have been possessed of evil powers to be able to inspire such dumbfounding
facts in God’s name. But as Joshua’s Yoruba ancestors would say, everything has
changed his name to ‘’Eebudola’’ meaning soughly ‘’critism has morphed into
honour’’ or ‘’adversity has led to success’’. And for those who see ‘’evil in
the many goods emanating from this church the question is: can evil be fighting
against such evil as diseases, poverty, broken homes, depression etc as Joshua
is doing? Today every nooks and crannies of the globe with access to cable TV has
hooked to this Nigerian icon. Presidents, potentates, business gurus,
entertainment and showbiz giants etc have continued to mingle with ordinary
folks to throng the synagogue from all corners of the world.
More than
many other national institutions, the T.B Joshua led SCOAN has brought so much
pride to Nigeria; so much respect and impression that Nigerians could really be
good people. Every day you visit the church, you meet hundreds tourists from
around the world coming for one spiritual issue or the other while many also
visit just to experience the joy of this Nigerian phenomenon. At a time when
Nigeria’s image has been battered by the dastardly outrage of the Boko Haram
lunatics, the synagogue is one of the outstanding oases of hope for the
Nigerian image. Yours sincerely has been called by friends from around the
world for information that could better enlighten them about the church. Visit
the SCOAN website or Facebook page and you would be pleasantly shocked by
thousands of posts from fellow Africans and other citizens of the world
expressing warm, heartfelt impressions and goodwill about our nation as
exemplified by the T.B Joshua example.
Now, I wonder
what my compatriots at the Federal and State tourism organizations are doing to
recognize this ‘hidden’ tourism treasure and explore its fantastic
opportunities to further boost the image of Nigeria. So much has been done in
the tourism ministries to promote the image of Nigeria at home and abroad
without any seriously positive and discernible outcome. We spend millions on
tourism fairs, gatherings and events worldwide yearly with trickles coming as dividends.
Have we really considered the tourism potentials of places like the synagogue?
This is not necessarily about religion. The Yorubas would say ‘’if your
masquerade dances well, one would be elated’’. In bringing positive light upon
our nation around the world, in attracting thousands of foreign visitors to
Lagos; visitors who come here to see the good side of our land and relatively
boost our economy while also boosting their personal spiritual well-being, the
synagogue has helped advance our tourism industry. The earlier the tourism
authorities found a way of reaching out to institutions like this for
collaboration and ideas exchanges the better for us.
Tourism is a money-spinner
for countries that value it and explore its many ramifications. Saudi Arabia,
Italy, India and China have earned much from religious tourism through the
Hajj, the Vatican and Catholicism etc. What stops Nigerians from encouraging
religious tourism, cashing in on the leading light already provided by the Synagogue
Church of All Nations? The Redeemed Church is also helping in this through the
influx of foreign visitors during its Holy Ghost Congress. But the Synagogue,
to me, is unique in its clearly daily hosting of throngs of visitors from
around the world. T.B Joshua has been honored with the Officer of the Federal
Republic OFR award by the late President Yar A’dua for his contributions. I
think our tourism authorities should work with icons like Joshua to further
boost the image of Nigeria. One clue? The synagogue’s Emmanuel TV, seen around
the world, can be used as a medium to further advertise the good things that
would keep drawing people from around the world just like the synagogue church
is doing.
