The edifice housing the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) built by the church’s late founder, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua (TB Joshua) is regarded as not only imposing, but aesthetically beautiful. To many, it is the biggest physical legacy of TB Joshua. However for many, his biggest legacy in the Nigerian tourism industry might just be the acumen of turning a piece of marshy urban swamp into a world-class forest resort right in the heart of Lagos megacity. He almost completed the resort before his death in 2021.
The place is the SCOAN Prayer Mountain. It is a resort for religious pilgrims located in the marshy wetland area of Agodo-Egbe, few kilometres from the SCOAN auditorium in Ikotun, Lagos. It is called ‘mountain’, not because it has a mountain within its surroundings, but because it is dedicated for prayers as well as personal and group meditation.
The late prophet acquired the land in the late 80s to start his ministry. He later moved the church to the more spacious Ikotun. He however retained the land where his church started. TB Joshua chose not to change or alter the marshy and flowing water in the area, and built a world-class resort to blend with the marshy waterlogged environment. The prayer resort was built to reinforce the natural ambience. This had made the SCOAN Prayer Mountain unique-a forest resort within a megacity. The resort’s accommodation and other facilities sit on a square shaped large expanse of land. To build it, first huge strong iron rods were driven deep into the ground to create a base for the structure above the water. Unlike many buildings in such marshy ground, the late prophet did not fill up the marshy ground with sand.
The prayer resort was built on top of the water, allowing the water unhindered channel to flow. The resort has different categories of accommodation ranging from hostels to five-star accommodation. This five-star category of accommodation comes with state-of-the-art facilities. There are kitchen provisions for pilgrims and religious tourists, especially foreigners, to prepare meals to their taste.
The Prayer Mountain Resort ambiance leaves one with the feeling of being in the middle of a wild safari in East Africa. Roaming around the resorts are exotic animals, including springboks, different species of peacocks, white-throated monkeys, geese, and many others.
Probably the most important part of the resort is the prayer garden. It is covered with trees that create some sort of canopy for visitors. On this area, pilgrims could go on meditation in a very agreeable ambiance. There are speakers and fans strategically placed in different places that broadcast religious music, sermons and cool the environment. It is also in this area that religious meetings and crusades are held.
For those who may not know, it was in the prayer garden that TB Joshua gave his last ministration where he was quoted to have said: “There is a time to go to service, and a time to return after service.”
Beside the prayer garden is a demarcated area with an old thatch house. It is protected with iron. It was in this old thatch house that TB Joshua started his ministry in the late 80s. The place has been left the way it was. For visitors, it offers a glimpse into the humble beginning of TB Joshua.
After the prayer garden are high-end multi-storey accommodation facilities, and further still is a private prayer garden off limits to most visitors. This is where Prophet TB Joshua spent most of his time with his pastors when not at the church or out of the country.
It is also at this exclusive garden that the late prophet did most of his studies. It was for study area for the late prophet and his disciples. Some of his pictures in the public domain playing with exotic birds were taken in the study garden.
Another important component of SCOAN’s prayer mountain is the Prayer Walkway. It is a kind of square-shaped open walkway that pilgrims could walk round and round while praying and meditating.
One thing many may not know about the late prophet is his love for nature and animals. He recreated a forest setting right in the middle of a city. It is easy to get carried away by the natural ambience of the resort because even the close to 30-feet high walls of the resort are covered by green creeping plants that have turned the walls deep green. What many may not know also about the late prophet is that he was a fish farmer. Years before fish farming had become a fad, he was already very big into fish farming. Within the Prayer Mountain resort, he has a section that he demarcated for fish farming, using the natural water flowing under the resort. There are thousands, if not millions of catfish in the water of the prayer mountain. It would look calm with occasional air bubbles quietly exploding on the surface of the water. But once crumbs of fish feed are thrown into the water, the quiet surface suddenly turns into a war zone and the thousands of fish swim to the surface to jostle for food. These fishes are occasionally harvested and given out free to people.
While the late prophet made extra efforts to recreate an ambiance of tamed natural forest, he still offered pilgrims five-star hospitality. There is a modern rowing boat for exercise, and to navigate from one end of the resort to the other. For the very important international guests, they could simply be picked up from the airport and drop right in the middle of the prayer mountain with a helicopter. It has a helipad built in the middle of the water for guests who may want to avoid the difficult Lagos traffic.
TB Joshua, while alive, had embarked on many projects like his church auditorium edifice, the amphitheatre at Mount Precipice, Nazareth-Israel, and many others. However, it seems the SCOAN Prayer Mountain resort has a special place in his heart. For those who knew and visited him, on many occasions, visits would not be complete without him ordering aides to drive the visitors to the prayer mountain for guided tours. He was proud of the place.
Probably it was due to the soft spot he had for the prayer mountain that he relocated there during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also in this resort that he took his last breath on earth.
The prayer mountain was like an opus magni for the late prophet and he would always discourage people from taking pictures or writing about the place while he was still under construction. The closest he came to advertising the place was a few days before his last birthday when he did a short pre-birthday video using the resort as background. He wanted everything in place before opening it to the world. To the credit of the wife, Pastor Evelyn Joshua, she is running with the vision.