How Prophet T.B. Joshua supported my Presidential Ambition in 2011 — Dele Momodu

‘Prophet TB Joshua is a kind man’ says Chief Dele Momodu

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.

Prophet T.B. Joshua welcomes Basorun (Dr.) Dele Momodu to his office at SCOAN

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.

Basorun (Dr.) Dele Momodu….Ever Grateful to Friends & even Foes…

I have continued to marvel at your awesome powers as demonstrated to the naked
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.

Chief Momodu, the GDA, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu & Dr. Bolaji Tunji all waiting to see Prophet T.B. Joshua @ SCOAN

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.

Prophet T.B. Joshua welcomes Chief Orji Uzor Kalu & Chief Dele Momodu to his office at SCOAN

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.

Basorun Dele Momodu to the World ‘Prophet T.B. Joshua has been so kind to me and my brand’

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.

Chief Dele Momodu, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Dr. Bolaji Tunji of Sun Newspaper in rare pose with Prophet T.B. Joshua

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.

Prophet TB Joshua greets a Senator as Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Basorun Dele Momodu looks on

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.

The GDA,Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief Momodu, others wait to see Pastor TB Joshua during the visit to SCOAN

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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!

Chief Dele Momodu with the GDA

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.

Prophet T.B. Joshua with his favorite Nigerian Publisher Dr. Dele Momodu at his office in SCOAN

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.

Chief Dele Momodu piloting Pastor TB Joshua and a former Governor of Abia State Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu down the stairs at SCOAN