Until 1987, Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos, was unknown. As at then, the swampy suburb lacked basic infrastructure, especially accessible roads, while its high population ‘occasioned by cheap rent’ and corresponding growing crime rate scared many from living or investing in the area.
But since then, the town has undergone appreciable transformation, courtesy of the courage of one man, who against all odds established his church at Ikotun, considered then as one of Nigeria’s most unfriendly environments.
First, for setting up Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), just a bus-stop to the notorious and chaotic Ikotun market and roundabout, Prophet Temitope B. Joshua, founder and senior pastor of the church, showed courage and commitment to change the face of the once neglected sleepy community.
He truly did, until his demise on Saturday, June 5, 2021 in the church, just a week to his 58th birthday on June 12th,
Prophet T.B. Joshua, as he was fondly called by his retinue of followers and admirers, had given Ikotun a prime recognition on global map as pilgrims and visitors from across the world thronged the area to see the prophet for spiritual help.
From the poorest of people and the sick who needed healing and spiritual help, global celebrities who sought attention, clergy colleagues who needed anointing, and to politicians and world leaders, SCOAN turned Ikotun to a-must-visit for many.
Until the lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, SCOAN attracted over 50,000 weekly attendance, over two million pilgrims annually, becoming Nigeria’s biggest tourist attraction and the most visited destination by religious tourists in West Africa.
As well, six out of every ten foreign travellers coming into Nigeria were bound for SCOAN, according to figures released by the Nigerian Immigration Service.
With all these going for SCOAN, over the years, the church has boosted businesses activities in Ikotun. As at today, there are over 20 hotels offering over 4000 rooms, as well as, cheaper hostels for visitors and pilgrims.
There are also over 20 registered food vendors, over 50 registered car hire service providers and travel agencies, several security outfits that provide escort services, collaborative agreements with many government and private health facilities for emergencies.
As many rightly observed, SCOAN brought world class standard in its activities and excellent coordination of pilgrims from home and abroad. That delivering excellence has been the watchword for every organisation that does business with SCOAN.
According to James Omorieme, a hotel owner at Ikotun, the church engaged hoteliers severally and visited often to inspect their facilities to ensure that they meet certain standards as the church’s hostel facilities cannot accommodate all the pilgrims.
“We had to organise ourselves under the aegis of Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria Ikotun in order to ensure control and sustainability of our business. We did that because the church can advise visitors to go elsewhere if they found our facilities lacking some standards,” Omorieme.
Omorieme, who has about 25 staff in his hotel, also noted that while the hotels were springing up every day at Ikotun, to meet the growing demand for standard accommodation facilities by pilgrims, eateries, care hire services, travel agencies, escort services, among other related services were quadrupling in number, and increasing job opportunities at Ikotun.
“I will say that SCOAN provided jobs for over 10, 000 people in Lagos, especially at Ikotun because of the interconnected nature of pilgrimage. Their air tickets have to be booked, they will fly in and be picked by car hire, there will be escort, and they will lodge in accommodation on arrival and will also eat. So, the church provided opportunity for many to fend for themselves,” he said.
But, all those opportunities, according to him, are seriously threatened by the death of Prophet Joshua.
Though Alimosho Local Government Area, the host of the church, is the largest local government in Lagos, going by its huge population, the eateries, hotels, car hire, among other pilgrim-focused businesses, cannot be serviced by residents because they were specifically meant to cater to the needs of pilgrims, who also come often with foreign currencies.
Jude Unanka, a hotelier, and member of Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria Ikotun, noted that the death of the prophet is the worst thing to happen to hotels and other businesses that provide services to pilgrims at Ikotun as many are going to lay off staff, rebrand to normal hotel or convert properties to residential buildings.
“There are many hotels here, but those registered under Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria are different in terms of standard and quality offerings because we are expected to host foreigners,” Unanka said.
“We also have to pay our staff above the salaries of other non-registered hotels here. Now the prophet is dead, the situation is dicey because foreign guests who we make money from are no longer going to come like before and we cannot pay that big salary again. To operate like every other hotel here will be difficult, it means reducing our standards and losing some good hands to bigger hotels,” Unanka decried.
The car hire service providers are hugely impacted by the prophet’s death as well. For Matiu Adagba, a car hire service provider, life has not been easy since the closing of the church in March last year in line with the Covid-19 protocols, a situation that has worsened with the death of the prophet.
“I was operating at Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos when my friend drafted me into providing service to some people visiting SCOAN. It has been juicy because of the calibre of people we drive. But I have gone back to the airport since last year because pilgrims were not coming again and the prophet also did not open the church before his death. So, there is no business for me again at SCOAN,” Adagba.
His solace is that he was able to buy a fairly-used Toyota Camry 2005 for his business.
Like Adagba, many others drafted into the car hire businesses for SCOAN’s visitors have also looked elsewhere since last year when the lockdown crashed visitors’ number to zero.
But the most affected are some car hire operators who obtained their cars under hire purchase agreement and are now unable to deliver due to the crashing of the pilgrims’ transfer service to and fro the airport, which was juicy with less stress for the SCOAN registered car hire operators.
Recalling a friend who is indebted and about losing his car to a hire purchase operator at Ikeja, Adagba said about 10 members belled him out and he is repaying by installment now.
For the eateries, Madam Kusu, a Ghanaian who does Southern African and oriental dishes, has since laid off half of her 16 staff because of the lull in business at the SCOAN Ikotun food delivery business, while the remaining staff now work in her Ikeja Cantonment restaurant.
Madam Kusu, who spoke with BusinessDaySunday at the Egbe branch of her restaurant, said she had already posted her condolence on social media, and that the sudden death of Prophet Joshua would wreck many businesses that service visitors like hers.
“I got the contract to supply food to a certain category of pilgrims through a high ranking military personnel at Ikeja Cantonment who visited the church for spiritual need and was helped. As things stand now, we are closing shop because the number of visitors will not improve at the immediate to sustain our business,” she lamented.
The concern for many observers is the hardship the demise of the prophet would create by the laying off of staff of the business outfits that service visitors to the church.
According to Ketkeso Kumalo, a South African business executive, who once visited with his sick father for healing at SCOAN, the church has created huge business value chain for Lagos and businesses within its vicinity, and he prayed those taking over will sustain it.
Kumalo, who sent his condolence on his social media page, commended Prophet Joshua for healing his father then and also for the employment opportunity his church created for the people of Nigeria in Lagos.
It is estimated that since the establishment in 1987, SCOAN has wooed over 50 tourism-related businesses to Ikotun, boosted employment opportunity in the area with over 10,000 employed people, who have at least, three dependants, and has also attracted government attention to the area with the improvement on road networks leading from the airport to the area.
But all the feats are now threatened with the demise of the prophet as government may not channel scarce resources to areas it would not collect taxes in return.
Also threatened are the poor in the area who always run to SCOAN because of the philanthropy of the Prophet Joshua. It said that no needy gets to the prophet without being changed as SCOAN sees their welfare as part of its community service, as well as, fulfilling religious obligation of caring for the poor.
There has been micro-credit assistance to market women and artisans, scholarships, boreholes drilled and other corporate social responsibilities, which the church preferred to be unannounced, for which reason most beneficiaries sing praise of the prophet.
Moreover, a top executive of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Ikotun branch, who pleaded anonymity, noted that the peace in the area is courtesy of the prophet “who always presses the right button.”
“If there is trouble at Ikotun, most visitors will not come, foreigners will run away and even when the church hostel collapsed and government wanted to make trouble, we told them that the prophet is our own. You cannot make noise about the prophet at Ikotun because he carries us along without making noise. We are missing him already,” said the NURTW executive, who though a Muslim, yet visited the church severally when the prophet was alive.
His fear is that if the “boys” make trouble now, it will take long to stop them because the charismatic prophet who they respect is gone.
“It is not all about money, but the regard and respect the prophet had for us made us loyal. He was unique and you cannot challenge his wisdom and soft way of handling serious matters,” he eulogised the late prophet.
Also, on a good note, the leadership of Alimosho Local Government Area, host of SCOAN, has severally sent commendation letters to Prophet T. B. Joshua for his great philanthropy and boost to the internally generated revenue of the council through many businesses that service pilgrims visiting the church, which also remit statutory levies.
On a larger economic perspective, the demise of Prophet T. B Joshua is a colossal loss for airlines, especially some African carriers. At a point, the Lagos route from countries like South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia was the juiciest because flights were usually almost filled with passengers heading to SCOAN to see the prophet for divine favour, healing, among other spiritual needs.
Also, the Nigerian Immigration Service confirmed the boom with the figure it captured and released that six out of every ten foreign travellers coming into Nigeria were bound for SCOAN.
Of course, business is not going to be the same for the airlines, which will source other passengers for the Lagos route. The worst hit is South African Airways, which at some point was usually half filled with passengers visiting SCOAN.
The airline, which has not flown since March 2020 when global lockdown grounded all airlines, was the major carrier for visitors to SCOAN. It sustained patronage from passengers who came from across countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, and made the Lagos-Johannesburg route juicier than Lagos-Dubai at some point.
Yet, East Africans in their thousands besieged Kenyan Airways, Ethiopian Airline, and RwandAir for flights to Lagos to see the most-visited African prophet, T.B Joshua.
In 2017, passengers on a Lagos-bound Kenyan Airways flight were flown almost empty to Entebe International Airport in Uganda to pick Ugandans coming for pilgrimage at SCOAN Ikotun.
A travel journalist, who was on that flight, was furious at first, but on seeing the great number and how East Africans regarded Prophet T. B. Joshua, he was elated, saying “at least there is a positive thing about Nigeria, which Nigerians at home have failed to take advantage of”.
The travel journalist, who was returning from Magical Kenya, the country’s tourism promotion event, sponsored by the Kenyan government, decried the lack of promotion of the numerous tourism potential across Nigeria, at least religious tourism being promoted by the likes of SCOAN, Redeemed, Winners, among other churches.
The sad reality is that the airlines will no longer fly in pilgrims to SCOAN, and if they do, it will not be in great numbers again. Tour operators and travel agencies that handle travel itineraries and bookings for these pilgrims are already losing out.
Again, Emmanuel TV, the televangelism platform of SCOAN, may not get as much viewership as when the prophet was alive.
Founded on March 8, 2006, Emmanuel TV has overtime become the most subscribed Christian ministry channel on YouTube worldwide with well over 1,000,000 subscribers, as of January 2019.
The sad reality is that the TV, which also airs on DStv Channel 390, had some of the best broadcast facilities, well trained technicians and has offered employment to many at Ikotun where it broadcasts from.
The efficiency of the TV, its high quality production, its global reach, impact of viewers among others are reasons the BBC commended Emmanuel TV and described T.B. Joshua as “Nigeria’s best known televangelist”.
Sadly, the sustainability of the TV is in question as the visionary leader, who is the reason global viewers are gluing their eyes on their TV screens to watch, while others pay subscription on social media to watch, is no more.
Truly, the prophet has left a big shoe and there is fear that those he left behind may not be able to carry on with his legacy. If that happens, the church will crumble and the employment it has created directly and indirectly will go, leaving many to suffer in a country where rate of unemployment is very high.
But the most concern for those who are close to the late prophet and tourism stakeholders in Nigeria is the SCOAN Prayer Mountain Resort, which was 80 percent completed before the prophet died.
The resort is set within a large expanse of land with natural ambience of trees and water at Ikotun, amid facilities such as; a kilometer of prayer and meditation walkway, a meditation garden that has rare and exotic species of peacocks and springboks, a helipad, and a speed boat to quickly convey pilgrims from one end of the resort to the other.
The resort was reclaimed from the swamp, and the premises are built on elevated structure surrounded by water filled with catfish. It is an urban oasis that cuts off toxic air and noise pollution, and also less than 10 kilometers from Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA).
Many worry that the state-of-the-art resort may not open again.
According to Amos Ogere, a tour operator and friend of the late prophet, Nigeria would lose if the resort is not opened.
“It is one of the biggest resorts in the country with the capacity of close to a thousand guests at a time. Currently, it is the only resort of its size in Nigeria, which is located in the heart of a city. The new addition will be a boost to religious tourism and add to the profile of the country as a destination”, he said.
Desmond Ibiam, a tourism expert and resident of Ikotun, pleaded that the resort should not be allowed to rot at 80 percent completion because it would not only complement current accommodation facilities within the church’s vicinity, it would further cement the reputation of the Ikotun, Lagos, as Africa’s leading religious tourist destination.
“It will attract more foreigners, employ many people as staff, lift many out of poverty and bring sanity to that area. But we fear those may be dreams if those left behind cannot carry on with the prophet’s legacy,” he said.
So far, and from all indications, there will not be leadership tussle at SCOAN as church executives, members, family members and friends are committed to ensuring peace and sustenance of the legacy of SCOAN founder.
But the bottom-line is that businesses that once serviced pilgrims that visit SCOAN are closing down already, as they are still struggling from the impact of Covid-19, lockdown, long closure of the church, less foreign visits and finally the death of the prophet, which for many is the final nail of the issue.
