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Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu
The collapse of the TB Joshua-owned five-storey church lodge in Lagos on September 12 killing at least 115 people was the second major tragedy that occurred in Nigeria this year.
The first was the violent abduction of more than 200 school girls from a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-eastern region by the obviously criminal-led Boko Haram fundamentalist Islamic gang some five months earlier.

At the time of writing this article (October 6, 2014) the girls had still not been rescued. The bodies of the people who perished in the church lodge were still in Lagos. The media said 84 of the dead were South Africans and three were Zimbabweans.

Those were pilgrims who flew to Nigeria to be prayed for by Prophet TB Joshua, an internationally renowned “man of God”.
According to him, the building collapsed after an aeroplane had flown over it four times and was photographed by close circuit cameras installed in the lodge.

The “man of God” was quoted by the media as saying that the tragedy was caused by terrorists, repeatedly referring to the aircraft photographed by his lodge’s CCTV system.

That implied that the building collapsed because of the sonic waves of the aeroplane. We can believe this theory only if the aircraft was flying at supersonic speed, that is to say at a higher speed than that of sound. However, were that the case, other buildings in the locality could also have been affected. But they were not.

Another possibility, albeit a remote one, is that somebody had planted a sonic mine in the building, and the sound of the aeroplane detonated it.
It is, by the way, said that construction was in progress on the building as floors were being added to the already finished three that were being used. If a mine was planted, it could have been on the floors that were under construction. But such mines known as “sonic mines” are usually used in naval and not in aerial warfare.

Adaptations cannot, however, be ruled out. In naval warfare, sonic mines are detonated by passing ships, that is, by the sound of the ship’s engine. That could be done most well, assuming the craft flies effectively close to the mine.

All this apart, the tragedy could have been caused by structural defects arising from poor architecture or faulty workmanship or because of unsuitable or poor quality material used by builders. In Egypt, it is quite common for buildings to collapse because of one or more of the factors stated above.

A commission of inquiry comprising carefully selected professionals of unquestionable integrity can establish the real or at least possible cause or causes of that tragedy.

That could guard against the corruption that is globally associated with Nigeria’s social, economic, political and cultural life. A formula for the funding of such a commission can be worked out, but TB Joshua’s church would be morally and legally bound to shoulder the lion’s share.

Governments concerned would be required to nip in with transportation facilities from their respective nationals serving on the commission.
A  very significant aspect of that most unfortunate incident is the large number of non-Nigerians who were in the lodge.

Several hundreds were South Africans, and a few Zimbabweans. Both South Africa and Zimbabwe have branches of TB Joshua’s church as well as other well established Christian denominations.

Freedom of worship is, of course, enshrined in the constitution of these countries, but one common factor is that all Christians worship one and the same God, and they use the same reference book, the Bible, for their liturgical purposes.

God is omnipresent, that is to say He is everywhere all the time. The considered opinion of this writer is that it is not wise to spend one’s little resources travelling thousands of kilometres away from one’s home to go and pray to God who is right  there in one’s room.

Travelling all the way from Zimbabwe or South Africa to be prayed for suggests that God is more present in Lagos than at Makwiro or at Vaka, at Soweto or at Mafikeng or wherever else. Not the case.

God is wherever His devout believer is and hears the believer’s prayer in whatever language. Incidentally, Christians do not have to shout or scream, bellow or growl when they pray because God is not deaf.

Since God is omnipresent, He hears our prayer however softly we say it whatever the time.
Another characteristic of God is that He is omnipotent, that means He is all powerful. Jesus Christ, His only Begotten Son performed miracles because he had total (repeat the word “total”) faith in God, in the “omnipotence” of God.

Christians who have such faith have established very spiritually and morally healthy relationship with God. They do not have to fly to Jerusalem or wherever to be prayed for. They pray for themselves and God hears and answers them wherever they are.

The third attribute of God is that He is omniscient, that is, He is all-knowing. Christians who most faithfully seek guidance and enlightenment from God receive His benevolent response sooner than later.

Yes, God has His special messengers, but they cannot keep Him in their rooms or pockets.
They are His special messengers because of their total faith in His “all-presence, all-knowing and all-powerfulness” (omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence.)

Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired Bulawayo-based journalist. He can be  contacted on cell 0734328136 or through email [email protected]