Ovation Magazine CEO and singer Davido’s in-law, Dele Momodu has written
a touching and overwhelming letter to the general overseer of The
Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, SCOAN, Prophet T.B Joshua who has
threatened to leave Nigeria for Israel.
Read full later below…
My
dear Prophet, I’m very certain this letter must come to you as a big
surprise. But that is the nature of this column. It is in the character
of Pendulum to swing in the direction least anticipated. Today, it has
chosen to navigate itself towards you, my dear man of God.
For
avoidance of doubt, please, permit me to quickly explain a point so that
mischief-makers may not attribute spurious motives to this epistle. I’m
not a member of your congregation. I have never been. You and I have
never discussed religion or worship. I have never approached you for
special prayers or miracles. But I have been a great fan of yours
nonetheless, for very exceptional reasons. I shall explain in a jiffy
why I admire you warts and all.
No human being is perfect, and
I’m sure that includes you, despite being a man of God. I’ve read and
heard torrents of good and bad tales about you. But didn’t I read and
hear a deluge of fairy-tales about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
your overall Master? It is normal for human beings to concoct true and
imaginary tales about newsmakers. You have been a subject and victim of
such incredible rumour-mongering over the decades that I have known you.
Some have alleged that you are not a genuine disciple of God. They’ve
alleged that you are fetish and use native jazz to heal miracle-seekers.
Some have even called your miracles mere optical illusions. That you
are nothing short of a magician but these myriad of detractors have
never diminished your popularity globally.
I have continued to
marvel at your awesome powers as demonstrated to the Unclad eyes on
television, and two or more conclusions have emerged. If you use juju or
whatever power to heal people, then it is positive healing. We all turn
to doctors, pharmacists, surgeons and others in the days of medical
challenges. The drugs we take emanate from herbs, local or foreign. The
Indians and the Chinese in particular have been much wiser than us by
developing their medicine to international standards. I have tried
acupuncture in my adventurous days in Dubai and London. There is nothing
wrong if God has given you special access to the secrets of herbs and
roots. What makes it even more remarkable and extraordinary is that you
escalate and amplify every miracle of yours with loud shouts of the name
of Jesus. You’ve never called the names of other Gods or even witches
and wizards on the pulpit. There are always local and international
visitors to your synagogue of God. None has ever reported that he or she
stumbled on an esoteric shrine perchance.
In fact, you have been
a major source of foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria. It is
difficult to imagine how many religious tourists pour into your church
daily from different parts of the world. I’ve travelled extensively in
Africa and beyond. There is hardly a flight I’ve flown on, especially in
Africa, that I’ve not encountered your sworn and ardent followers. They
love you endlessly and swear by your name. Many of them are
distinguished personalities, well-educated and intelligent and not
ignoramuses as many may wish to suggest. Presidents have attested to
your miracles. I will mention one very good example that I am familiar
with.
Long before the 2008 presidential election that ushered in
President John Evans Atta-Mills in Ghana, you had called me one early
morning to ask my opinion and projection ahead of the election. I
remember telling you that Nana Akufo-Addo was tipped and favoured to
win. Your response was that I was wrong and that God was going to
perform a miracle for Professor Atta-Mills. True, the ways of God are
not the ways of man. You went all out in your support for Atta-Mills,
like you always do for people and causes you champion, and he actually
won the election.
I was pleasantly surprised when you called me
one early Sunday morning to invite me to the Synagogue. You said you
remember how you had called me to support the aspiration of Atta-Mills
and the useful tips I gave. Now that the man had won, he was coming for a
thanksgiving service in your church and you felt it was only proper for
me to be invited to attend. The service had ended by the time I
meandered my way to Ikotun-Egbe, but I was fortunate and happy to meet
Professor Atta-Mills in one of the private apartments you keep for your
august visitors. I sat with Prof and probed him a bit about why he had
travelled all the way to Nigeria in search of spiritual fortification.
He told me in clear terms that he was not a buffoon and that as a
Professor he was expected to act on empirical facts and not on raw
sentiment or emotion.
Professor Atta-Mills said you had told him
certain things that could never have been guess-work. For, example, he
said you predicted with mathematical accuracy the unusual pattern and
direction the election was going to take, the controversy that was going
to come with it and the precise date the final verdict was going to be
delivered, and they all came to pass. He said man being a natural
doubter of things unseen should nevertheless not discountenance reality
in the face of obvious facts. He said he was convinced that God was
truly using you and he had no choice than to return to the Synagogue and
publicly proclaim the power of God that had made the impossible
possible through your intervention and intercession.
Let me now
go to the relationship between us spanning nearly two decades. How did
our paths cross? If my memory serves me right, I was approached by one
of your media aides at the time, Jide Oshokoya, formerly of Today’s
Choice magazine, who said you would like to meet with me. To cut a long
story short, I accepted the invitation with mixed feelings. You had been
much maligned by your traducers that I did not even know what to
believe anymore. But as a good student of philosophy, I chose not to be
as paranoid and sceptical as the French philosopher, Rene Descartes, who
went to the extreme of doubting his own existence. I was prepared to
meet you with an open mind but with every caution in case your intention
was to turn me into a church member.
We met at the appointed
time, after waiting for a while in a small restaurant on the ground
floor before I was taken upstairs by your female staff. I felt a kind of
tremor around you as everyone around was awestruck by you. The first
thing I noticed was your simplicity and humility. You wore a round-neck
t-shirt on top of jeans. We exchanged pleasantries and you told me how
much you loved the creativity and originality that you saw in Ovation
International magazine. I was flattered. You asked how much it would
cost to be featured in such a high quality magazine and once we agreed
on the figure you instantly booked 5,000 copies to be sent from our
printers in London to the church. I was deeply touched because you did
not beg for freebies. Many of our friends do not see media as business.
They treat us as lambs of God who carry away the burden of the world,
the main reason many media empires collapse ever before they are built.
Let
me reiterate at this juncture that you’re a good man for being such a
sympathetic benefactor. I never imagined the extent of your generosity
until the magazines arrived from England and I asked when we could
deliver to you. You shocked me to the marrow as you told me to send only
ten copies and go ahead to distribute the remaining thousands of copies
through our extensive network and make more money from it. What
occurred to me immediately was your native intelligence. Only a
sagacious and visionary person would have understood that it was better
to spread the publication to every part of Nigeria than restricting it
to only church members. Let me say thank you again for that huge support
at a time we needed it. I do not forget favours, ever!
You have
probably forgotten the next thing you did for us. Soon afterwards, I got
another invitation from you, which I gladly honoured. As soon as we sat
down, you told me you were in trouble with your beautiful and humble
wife, and I asked why? You said your wife queried why she was not
featured in the Ovation International magazine edition that had you on
the cover. You told me you were surprised because she’s too introverted
and had never asked for any form of publicity. I noticed that most of
the time she was mingling freely with church workers and the
congregation. She never acted like a Queen or First Lady of the church
and this endeared her to me. You informed me the only remedy was for me
to do another cover in our next edition for both of you. That was how
you became probably the only family to feature back to back on our
cover. I returned to London and produced an even better cover.
Our
friendship grew in leaps and bounds. Though we did not see frequently,
sometimes for years, we regularly phoned each other and bonded like
brothers. Anytime you saw some wonderful news about me, you called to
congratulate and appreciate me despite your breath-taking schedules. The
most superlative of our encounters was in 2010 when you heard of my
Presidential dream. You did not fold your arms to watch me from afar. I
had just boarded a flight from J F Kennedy Airport in New York when my
phone rang and you were on the line. “Alagba, where are you?”, you asked
in your usual caring voice. I told you I was on a flight from America
to London, and you told me to see you as soon as I arrived in Lagos. I
was greatly humbled when you said you wished to discuss my presidential
bid.
I visited you late one night and spent less than ten
minutes, or so, with you. You told me I had no chance of winning the
2011 presidential election but encouraged me to go all the way. You
assured me the experience would be very useful and that I would remain
very relevant in the affairs of Nigeria, thereafter. Such a man of
wisdom you are, Sir. You came in with two carrier bags and you told me
they contained your financial contribution. Months later, you invited me
again to your home and gave me further assistance despite knowing I
could not win that election. You propelled me towards my goal and did
not use the excuse of failure to discourage me. You earned my respect.
Let
me give one more example of your uncommon love for fellow beings. About
two years ago, I had to undergo cataract operations in London. The
surgery went well and I was recuperating when suddenly, I received a
call from you in the dead of the night. “Alagba, I have just heard about
your eye problems.”, you said in that calm voice. I replied the
operations were very successful and was grateful for your concern. You
offered to offset the bills and I replied that few friends who heard
about my ordeal, like Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Tony Elumelu, Femi
Otedola and Tokunbo Afikuyomi had all offered to assist. You still
insisted on adding your widow’s mite. You texted repeatedly to ask for
an account despite my reluctance. God will never desert you.
I
have written all these examples as my personal testimonial to you. In a
country where many try to hide behind one finger, I wish to stand tall
and tell the world that you are a good man, even if others think or say
otherwise. I have read that you wish to abandon Nigeria and migrate to
Israel. It will never happen. You cannot and should not allow your
enemies run you out of town. God has been very kind to you. Just look
back and see your journey from way back in Ondo State. What more can God
do for any man who has served him loyally and fervently like you have
done.
My dear man of God, I align my voice with those who plead
that you remain in Nigeria. I have chosen to do so publicly because I
believe it is necessary.
You will see me very soon at your door.
All the best, in Jesus’ mighty name…