Some stakeholders in the tourism sector have advised the Federal and Lagos State Governments to dissuade Pastor Temitope Joshua, popularly known as, T
Some stakeholders in the tourism sector have advised the Federal and Lagos State Governments to dissuade Pastor Temitope Joshua, popularly known as, TB Joshua, from relocating the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) to Israel from Nigeria saying that Nigeria would lose billions of naira to religious tourism if Temitope Joshua and SCOAN should make the plan real.
Recall that TB Joshua, during one of his church services, recently said that he was planning to relocate to Israel from Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos and was in Israel recently where he held meetings with the mayors of Jerusalem, Tiberia and the Jordan Valley. He was quoted as saying that he was offered different facilities very close to the biblical site of the Sea of Galilee where he could organise meetings for international pilgrims.
More importantly SCOAN established in 1994 does not have another branch in Nigeria outside its international headquarters located in Ikotun. Some heads of government from African countries had also visited SCOAN to seek spiritual restoration and advice from Pastor TB Joshua. Mrs Ime Udo, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NANTA) said that Joshua’s planned action would lead to a reduction in the human traffic of local and foreign religious tourists that normally patronised SCOAN.
Udo said, “Religious obligations have become a fashionable trend all over the world as a means of expressing beliefs and faith in the ability of God to protect and guide mankind. Religious practices both under the auspices of Christianity, Islam and traditional practices have in no small way contributed to the development of tourism in the world. Christian pilgrimages to Israel have formed an economic platform for the empowerment of the localities and contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
“Also, Saudi Arabia has been benefiting immensely economically from many Islamic faithful who converge there twice annually on holy pilgrimage. With these scenarios and many others around the world, it has become valid that religious tourism has become a source of economic revival to a country and its people, “she said.
According to her, thousands of foreign religious tourists visit SCOAN monthly to worship and for other spiritual healings. She said that these tourists would fly into Nigeria; lodge in hotels, board commercial vehicles, patronise eateries and visit other tourists’ sites around the locality. Udo said that all these had been translating into huge revenue for the Nigeria economy.
“The local community; hotel operators, food vendors and others around SCOAN must have benefitted from tourists. SCOAN has, no doubt, contributed immensely to the tourism profile of Nigeria with several heads of government from various African countries that had visited there to seek spiritual restoration and advise from Pastor TB Joshua, ” she said.
Udo advised the Federal and Lagos State Governments to encourage SCOAN to remain in Nigeria as part of ways to develop the country’s tourism sector. A member of SCOAN, Mrs Iyabo Emmanuel, said that she was in church service when their General Overseer, Pastor TB Joshua, announced to the members on the offer given to him by the Israeli Mayors but that Pastor Joshua never said that he had agreed to such a proposal from the mayors.
“I have been worshipping in SCOAN since 1994 when TB Joshua established it newly in Ikotun area. I worked with TB Joshua for 15years before I resigned and ventured into selling of provisions. Then, I was the chef; head of canteen and bakery. I am still a full-time member of the church and I will continue to worship there. I am one of those that had benefitted from the church,” she said.
Emmanuel said that many residents and business owners would suffer if TB Joshua should relocate SCOAN from Ikotun. She said that majority of business owners around the area depended solely on the visitors to the church and they patronise facilities around the church.
NAN
