Rare Pictures of TB Joshua's Early Life Surface

One of Africa's most popular 'prophets', T.B. Joshua, has struck a chord with his throngs of followers by releasing never-seen-before pictures of his poverty-stricken background.

The images, uploaded to Joshua's official Facebook, followed by over 1.5 million people, depict the challenges the cleric faced during his childhood and education.

"I found myself in a family background that irritated me," the controversial pastor wrote. "My natural circumstance of birth was poverty. I come from a very humble background. Poverty loomed large in the family. The little education I had was through self effort."



Joshua insisted, however, that such a background was not an excuse to stray from the right paths. "I know many people with a similar circumstance of birth who did otherwise," he wrote. "They allowed their circumstance to influence their will. Their dreams crashed on the rocks of disappointment, failure and setback."

The cleric, whose popularity is largely due to the spread of his Christian channel Emmanuel TV, described his education as 'epileptic'.



"Today I am in school, the next day I am out, especially for want of money. I don't want to call it poverty because the man that is poor is not the one who has no money but one without a dream. Children of destiny can never be poor, though they may experience temporary lacks," he wrote.

Joshua, who didn't complete his first year of secondary school education, emphasised further that lack of finances in the family was not to be blamed for failure in life. 

"Today, many people blame their situation on family background," he penned. "Some would say, 'I am poor because everyone in my family is poor.' If you make excuses for being poor, your poverty cannot be excused. Remember, you are responsible for what you give your attention to; so it is unnecessary to blame your situation on anyone. Today, it is common for people to blame their failure on their family background, whereas they attribute their success to their personal effort."

According to the pastor, it was his dependence on God that strengthened him to rise above his challenges. "Nobody is too good or too bad to qualify for God's grace," he emphatically stated.

"Remember, it was possible for me to sit somewhere and begin to make excuses for my situation. I never did. Whatever I am today is a product of that conviction that victory through Christ is victory indeed. The rest is history!"

He concluded by stating that there was 'no excuse' for failure, calling on those who felt rejected, abandoned or helpless to seek refuge in God.

A video showing footage of the disheveled house Joshua was born in and his school in a remote area of Ondo State, Nigeria was also uploaded to his YouTube channel.



Ihechukwu Njoku is a freelance Nigerian journalist