8th July, 2021
By Taiwo Okanlawon
The General Manager of Supersports, Mr Felix Awogu has revealed how late Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN) contributed to the Nigerian sports project during his time.
According to the sports expert, the late prophet rescued the Nigerian team during 2013 Nations Cup, and also donated a sum of $150,000 to Olympic Village in Brazil.
Awogu, stated this while speaking to journalists at the lying-in-state service in honour of the televangelist at his church in Lagos.
The Supersports boss said Joshua indeed was a major pillar of sports in Nigeria and outside and doesn’t make his support known to the public.
Narrating some of his past contributions, Awogu disclosed that TB Joshua on one occasion in 2013, the Nigerian team was running out of funds while participating in the African Nations Cup and decided to contact the church founder, and he gave them a huge amount of money.
“I want to talk about him from sports perspective. Over the years, he had been a major support to sports, financially in Nigeria but a lot of people don’t know and we have been friends for years.
“Most of you who watched the 2013 Nations Cup, if you had seen the players running to the camera, most people didn’t know what they were saying, it was TBJ.
“At that time, there was a financial crisis with football and everybody was looking for what we can do. Keshi called me and I said we are looking at it. He got to hear about it, and he said Okay, Felix, bring him (Keshi) and I brought him here and he gave seed money to support the Nigerian project. He supported the National team of Nigeria.
“A lot of people don’t realize what he has done for our country, he supported us and that is why we became successful in sports.
“He was such quite a person, he doesn’t say it, he doesn’t try to overdo anything.
Awogu also disclosed that TB Joshua was a major supporter of Special Sports, adding that it may be hard for the team now to survive without him.
“Another case in point is our disabled athlete, and I wondered how they are going to survive, he had been a major supporter of special sports. He was always giving them funds, supporting them quietly.
“The Nigerian Olympic project, I am sure most people don’t know, the Olympic Village in Brazil, he gave those people $150,000 and many people don’t know because he was not somebody that goes about what he does, his impact on the Nigerian political scene or the sports scene.
“He was so passionate about sports, I am sure you know he had a football club called My People FC which has produced a lot of young players in the National Team.
“I am a sports person, so I can always talk around his sports area,” he added.
Hundreds of sympathisers from across the world also gathered outside and inside the church to pay their last respect to the televangelist.
The lying-in-state service is part of the week-long funeral in honour of the late clergyman who died on Saturday, June 5, 2021, a week to his 58th birthday.
A candlelight procession was held on Monday. On Tuesday, TB Joshua’s family, friends joined other guests to pay their last respects in a tribute service at the church.
Other activities lined up for the ceremony include interment on Friday and a thanksgiving service on Sunday.