TB Joshua

Temitope Balogun Joshua (12 June 1963 – 5 June 2021) was a Nigerian charismatic pastor and televangelist.

He was the leader and founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), a Christian megachurch that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos, Nigeria.

Joshua was widely known across Africa and Latin America and had a large social media presence with over six million fans on Facebook.

His YouTube channel, Emmanuel TV, had over one million subscribers and was the most-viewed Christian ministry on the platform before the channel was suspended by YouTube in 2021 for alleged homophobic hate speech.

Joshua was described by media outlets as the "Oprah of Evangelism" and "YouTube's most popular pastor".

Joshua was born on 12 June 1963, as Temitope Balogun Joshua.

Joshua's home town was Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State.

He claimed that miracles accompanied his birth, and that he spent 15 months in his mother's womb.

He claimed that his birth had been "prophesied" a century earlier.

Born into poverty, Joshua's Yoruba family included both Muslims and Christians.

He grew up with a Muslim uncle after his father, a Christian, died.

According to SCOAN, the church he founded, he attended the St. Stephen's Anglican Primary School in Arigidi Akoko, Nigeria, between 1971 and 1977.

After a year of secondary school education, he left to work on a poultry farm.

In school, he was known as "small pastor" because of his love for the Bible.

Joshua attempted to join the Nigerian military but was thwarted due to a train breakdown that left him stranded en route to the military academy.

He died on 5 June 2021 at his home in Lagos shortly after his Saturday night teaching of undisclosed cause.

Joshua wrote that in a heavenly vision he had received divine anointing and a covenant from God to start his ministry.

Following this, Joshua founded the ministry organisation known as Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

According to the organisation, more than 15,000 members attend its weekly Sunday service; visitors from outside Nigeria are accommodated in the accommodation blocks constructed at the church.

The Guardian reported that SCOAN attracts more weekly attendees than the combined number of visitors to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.

SCOAN's popular services have also resulted in an enormous boost for local businesses and hoteliers.

Although Joshua's videos were distributed worldwide, gaining a large social media presence, the church has only one branch, in Ghana.

Joshua was awarded various accolades, notably receiving the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Nigerian government in 2008 and being voted the Yoruba man of the decade by Pan-Yoruba media outlet Irohin-Odua.

He was called one of Africa's 50 most influential people by Pan-African magazines The Africa Report and New African Magazine.

He was a controversial figure, and was officially blacklisted by the government of Cameroon in 2010.

Joshua died on 5 June 2021 after one of his evening services in Lagos, Nigeria, just one week prior to his 58th birthday.

In 2024, he was accused, in a BBC investigation, of raping, torturing, and abusing followers over a period of almost 20 years.

Accusations included instances of child abuse, taking place in a compound in Lagos.

By 2011, according to Forbes, Joshua was Nigeria's third-richest pastor, although the claim was immediately denied in a statement by the church.

The church's popularity has led to an increase in flight routes to Lagos from several African countries in 2013.

Joshua's contribution to Nigeria's religious tourism was highlighted when the cleric hinted at the possibility of relocating his ministry to Israel during a Sunday service.

Several prominent Nigerians opposed the relocation, urging Joshua to remain in the country, and citing the economic setbacks Nigeria would likely experience as a result of his potential relocation.

Joshua travelled to Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Paraguay to hold what he called "crusades."

He also visited Israel to receive a humanitarian award from ZAKA and to visit biblical sites.

Joshua said in 2014 that it was "not yet time" for him to have branches worldwide.

SCOAN has been described as "Nigeria's biggest tourist attraction" and “the most visited destination by religious tourists in West Africa,” with thousands of foreigners flocking to attend the church's weekly services.

Figures released by the Nigerian Immigration Service indicated that six out of every ten foreigners entering Nigeria are bound for SCOAN, a fact discussed in Zimbabwean parliament when addressing the economic potentials of religious tourism.

This Day newspaper reported that “about two million local and inbound tourists” visit SCOAN annually.

Joshua's "Miracle Crusade" in Cali, Colombia in July 2014 was allegedly attended by 100,000 people and held in the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero.

He travelled to the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico, and was allegedly visited by 200,000 people over two days in May 2015.