Miracle-marketing: The reformulation of power and social

relations in Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria

by

Adjua Akinwumi

M.Sc., Violence, Conflict and Development, SOAS, University of London, 2014

B.Sc., Mass Communication, Covenant University, 2012

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Communication

in the

School of Communication

Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology

© Adjua Akinwumi 2019

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Summer 2019

Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction

or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation.

ii

Approval

Name: Adjua Akinwumi

Degree: Master of Communication

Title: Miracle-Marketing: The re-formulation of power and social relations in Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria

Examining Committee: Chair: Zoë Druick Professor

Adel Iskandar Senior Supervisor Assistant Professor

Kirsten McAllister Supervisor Associate Professor

Femi Kolapo External Examiner Associate Professor Department of History University of Guelph

Date Defended/Approved: August 16, 2019

iii

Abstract

As Western neoliberal capitalism de-territorializes spaces and folds the peripheries into itself,

what emerges is not global homogeneity. Instead, we are witnessing contesting narratives of

truth, dynamic and shifting subjectivities. Prevalent in the Nigeria is the rapid spread of

Pentecostalism. Its untaxed churches worth hundreds of millions of dollars form an unregulated

yet influential economy. Church is big business, but it is also political. The rise of the mega-

pastor has seen a growing influence of religious leaders on the socio-political and economic

space. Given the salience of these religious leaders and their increasing usage of media

technologies, I turn to the discourse within televised miracle sessions to unpack and deconstruct

how social and power relations are constructed and enacted; and to glean a more nuanced

understanding of the discourses and subjectivities that are legitimated and those that are

discredited in the process.

Keywords: Religion; Power; Pentecostalism; Critical Discourse Analysis; Miracle-marketing;

Nigeria

iv

Dedication

I dedicate this thesis to my family. To my dear father, this thesis is a result of the many

conversations we have had about religion and politics in Nigeria. Thank you for always believing

in me. This thesis will not have come to fruition without you. To my dear mother, thank you for

your words of encouragement and for always pushing me to be my best. To my dearest sister

and brother, you will forever be the support system I do not deserve. I love you all.

v

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my

committee members. A special thanks to Dr. Adel Iskandar, my senior supervisor, for your

patience, support, and motivation. To Dr. Kirsten McAllister and Dr. Femi Kolapo, I express

immense gratitude for your invaluable feedback and shared expertise.

My sincere thanks to the Institute for the Study of Teaching and Learning in the Disciplines

(ISTLD) team. Thank you for a year of emotional support and helpful advice. I couldn’t have

gone through this process without you. My sincere thanks also to the professors and instructors

in the School of Communication.

To my friend, Robyn, and my family, thank you for cheering me on throughout this process. And

last but not the least, thank you, God, for a successful completion.

vi

Table of contents

Approval ....................................................................................................................................... ii

Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii

Dedication ................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................v

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures.............................................................................................................................. ix

Chapter 1 Introduction. .................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Scope of the study ................................................................................................................ 2

1.2 Methods ................................................................................................................................ 6

1.3 Case Study: TB Joshua – Miracle worker, King Maker ....................................................... 7

Chapter 2. Literature Review and Background to the study .................................... 11

2.1 The politics in (and of) Religion: Framing the social and political relevance of Pentecostalism and its pastors ................................................................................................. 11

2.1.1 Politics as Institution and Politics as Discourse .................................................................. 11

2.2 A brief history of the ‘big-man of the big God’: Media, Televangelism, and power in Nigeria ....................................................................................................................................... 15

2.2.1 Nationalists in suits: The Nigerian media pre-independence .................................................... 15 2.2.2 The Media, ‘Big men’ and Power: Negotiating power post-independence ................................ 16 2.2.3 Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity and the democratization of power in an oil economy ...... 17 2.2.4 Pentecostal Christianity and the growth of a political Pentecostal public .................................. 18

2.3 The discourse of Miracles and Pentecostalism .................................................................. 21 2.3.1 Mediating the miracle: the centrality of media technologies ...................................................... 24

Chapter 3. Theoretical Assumptions and methodology ........................................... 28

3.1 Miracle-marketing: Bad vs Good religion. Avoiding the trap of essentialism .................... 30 3.1.1 Christianity as Discursive Tradition ............................................................................................ 32

3.2 Turning to Critical (Multimodal) Discourse Analysis .......................................................... 34

Chapter 4. Analysis and Discussion ............................................................................ 40

4.1 The invention of Bose ......................................................................................................... 40 4.1.1 TB Joshua and the Miracle ........................................................................................................ 45 4.1.2 Relations of Power: The Church, The viewer, and Bose ........................................................... 48

4.2 Mrs. Kingsley delivers a boy: The Medical discourse Vs. the Miracle ............................... 54 4.2.1 Relations of power ..................................................................................................................... 56

4.3 Poverty as a curse, Charity as a miracle ............................................................................ 65

Chapter 5. Conslusion ................................................................................................... 75

5.1 Establishing hierarchies of power ....................................................................................... 76

5.2 Replacing old ties and structures ....................................................................................... 78

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ vi

vii

References ...................................................................................................................... 80

Appendix A. Video 1 transcript ..................................................................................... 88

Appendix B. Video 2 transcript ..................................................................................... 91

Appendix C. Video 3 transcript ..................................................................................... 95

Appendix D. Entifying Bose’s poisoining (full table)................................................. 99

Appendix E. TB Joshua references made in his absence (full table) .....................100

viii

List of Tables

Table 1: Engagement information for the first video .................................................................... 40

Table 2: Entifying Bose's Poisoning ............................................................................................. 42

Table 3: Classification of the disease ........................................................................................... 44

Table 4: TB Joshua references made in his absence .................................................................. 46

Table 5: Breakdown of Miracle session in the first video ............................................................. 48

Table 6: Engagement information for the second video .............................................................. 54

Table 7: Breakdown of Miracle session (Video 2) ........................................................................ 57

Table 8: Engagement information for the third video ................................................................... 66

Table 9: Breakdown of Miracle session (Video 3) ........................................................................ 67

ix

List of Figures

Figure 1: Bose's cardboard taken from the video Watch instant healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014)

at 0:14 and its spatial representation ........................................................................................... 40

Figure 2: An example of a comparison shot taken from the video Watch instant healing!!!

(Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 7:28 ...................................................................................................... 47

Figure 3: Examples of close up shots of Bose pre-miracle taken from the video Watch instant

healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 1:29 – 2:42 ........................................................................... 52

Figure 4 An example of an Offer and Demand shot taken from the video Watch instant healing!!!

(Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 7:28 ...................................................................................................... 53

Figure 5: An example of a close-up shot taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb

as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 3:30 ......................................................................... 61

Figure 6: A camera shot showing audience engagement taken from the video Impossible: baby

turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 4: 16 ................................................ 63

Figure 7: A shot showing Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley's testimony taken from the video Impossible:

baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 6:42 ........................................ 64

Figure 8: An example of a medium shot of TB Joshua taken from the video Impossible: baby

turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 1:22 ................................................. 64

Figure 9: A close-up shot of Mrs. Kingsley’s discharge taken from the video Impossible: baby

turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 6:14 ................................................. 65

Figure 10: A camera shot showing Mrs. Philomena's home taken from the video Try to watch

this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 6:02 ..................................................................... 68

Figure 11: A close up shot showing Philomena's daughter eating from the dumpster taken from

the video Try to watch this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 3:37 ................................ 69

Figure 12: An example of a close-up shot of Philomena's children’s tears taken from the video

Try to watch this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 0:59 ................................................ 70

1

Chapter 1. Introduction

Early 2014, in what might be the apogee of sensationalist televangelism in Sub-Saharan

Africa, Raboni Ministries broadcasts a controversial miracle session. Goaded by pastor Daniel

Lesego’s promise of deliverance and resurrection, congregants scramble outside where they

eat grass by the fistful. The camera follows, zooming on the gazes of the members for the

audience that would soon watch. “Yes, we eat grass and we're proud of it, because it

demonstrates that with God's power, we can do anything” a fellow congregant and law student

would tell reporters, when the video goes viral (Blair, 2014). Widespread criticism

would rapidly follow. The ensuing debate emphasized the irrationality of the video and led to

conversations about miracle-sessions and the evolving roles of pastors (“The men who claim”,

2016).

The video replicates a current trend in Pentecostal televangelism of broadcasting

miracle-sessions. Miracle-sessions are sessions where people with physical afflictions and

social and economic problems come to church to be cured through a miracle that the pastor

bestows on them. In sub-Saharan Africa, the practice has gained notoriety for its focus on the

spectacular and theatrical. In 2018, the government of Botswana shut down the church of

popular televangelist, Shepherd Bushiri, after accusing him of breaking national law by

promising ‘miracle money’– the physical appearance of money after his prayers - to his

congregants (“Botswana shuts 'miracle' pastor”, 2018). In 2015, Pastor Penuel Mnguni’s church,

End Times Disciples Ministries, in Pretoria, South Africa was burnt down, after his broadcast

miracles of him walking on the backs of his congregation and feeding them snakes stirred

national outrage (“Pretoria church burnt”, 2015). In Nigeria – the focus of this thesis, the

National Broadcasting Commission, in 2004, controversially banned the broadcast of televised

miracle-sessions due to their unverifiability (Borzello, 2004).

Miracle-sessions and their subsequent broadcast have become fixtures of the

Pentecostal movement in sub-Saharan Africa. Agazue (2013), refers to these practices as

miracle marketing in reference to the increasing commercialization of church activities in Nigeria

(p. 177). However, I borrow the term to highlight the currency of miracles in Pentecostalism. As

such, I do not place an emphasis on commercial marketing or the financialization of miracles

within the Nigerian economy. I do not also draw from or resort to theoretical grounding from

2

marketing research. Rather it is my intention with this thesis and with this term to highlight its

importance in the renegotiation and reformulation of social and power relations. Hence, with the

term miracle-marketing I draw attention to its importance as social currency. As I will explain in

this thesis, the miracle and miracle sessions, which negotiate power and social relations, act as

significant currency for the pastor. In Nigeria, the emergence of miracle-marketing is tied to the

increased professionalization of the movement starting in the 1980s, when the marginal practice

made up of small groups stressing narratives of anti-materiality, holiness, and egalitarianism,

were succeeded by million dollar mega-churches and their pastors who preached of a

Pentecostal promise of prosperity and good health (Kalu, 2008; Marshall, 2009).

There often is an implicit irrationality and absurdity in how we view miracle-sessions, as

well as those who partake in it. But how do we unpack these sessions in a manner that restores

rationality to the practice and captures its political instrumentalization without sacrificing or

reductively analysing its ideological/theological underpinnings. There are lessons to be learned

and unpacked from these miracle-sessions.

For one, they highlight changing social and power relations occurring between the pastor

and their congregation, with implications that reverberate beyond the domains of religion.

Pentecostalism, as Vaughan (2016) argues, is inseparable from the construction of a modern

project in Nigeria. Its mega-pastors, growing congregations of hundreds of thousands, continue

to gain and exert socio-political influence within the country, as well as the continent. As

Marshall (2005) convincingly argues, to study the religious is to study new political languages

with their own constructed representations and relations of power, which influence how people

interact with political and economic institutions. The objective of this thesis is to explore the

engendered social and power relations embedded within the practice of miracle-marketing, as

well as their narratives of truth and reality. As such, it is my intention to move beyond the

narratives of irrationality and backwardness and deconstruct this practice.

1.1 Scope of the study

As Western neoliberal capitalism de-territorializes spaces and folds the peripheries into

itself (Dirlik, 2003), what emerges is not global homogeneity and a linear trajectory towards the

rationalization of knowledge and society. Instead, we are witnessing, contesting narratives of

truth, dynamic and shifting subjectivities, as well as alternative forms of socio-political

organization. In African Studies, the continent’s deviation from classical modernity has led to

3

substantial literature on its non-normative trajectory (see Mbembe, 2001; Geschiere, Meyer, &

Pels, 2008). Of key concern in African Studies, has been the centrality of the religious within the

secular state, contradicting long-held assumptions of a classical and singular modernity where

“men” rather than God, determine their futures and run their own societies. Nigeria’s 170 million

inhabitants, for example, are split between a 49% Christian and a 48% Muslim population (Pew

Research Center, 2010). Religion, as the literature points out, has played a significant role in

perpetuating or contesting current systems of power (see Meagher 2009; Ellis & ter Haar 2004).

While the numbers vary, a Pew Research survey on Pentecostalism in Nigeria, carried out in

2006, estimated that about 18% percent of the population identified as Pentecostals and 23%

identified as believing in Pentecostal doctrines (Pew Research Center, 2006).

Pentecostalism is a Christian denomination that centers the experience of the Holy Spirit

in the Christian life (Asamoah-Gyadu, 2012). Its discourse places an emphasis on conversion and

holiness; and highlights a narrative of rupture, breaking away, and of renewal (Meyer, 1998;

Marshall, 2009; Engelke, 2010). Kalu (2008) notes of its difference in relation to other mainline

denominations, writing that “beyond the acceptance of Christ as savior (conversion-regeneration)

is another or second stage, an experience of new birth (Spirit baptism), the accession of the

charismatic power, a transforming experience that changes the relationship with the triune God.

The relationship consolidated in new ethics constitute the core aspects of a new Christian identity”

(p. 6). With an emphasis on the Holy spirit - the divinity associated with power - the movement

places a strong focus on the experience of a “transforming power” in the daily life of its believers

(Ihejirika, 2012, 173; see also Asamoah-Gyadu, 2005). Today, this narrative has translated into

a widespread message of good health, prosperity, among other blessings that are to be enjoyed

by the convert (Ihejirika, 2012). Its narratives and new conceptualizations of power importantly

see Christianity as a legitimate instrument in the control of the material world.

Gaining salience in the global south in the 1970s, Nigeria, as Onongha (2018) notes, “has

become African Pentecostalism’s true theatre of operation” (p. 371). However, a focus on

materiality (that is health, material wealth and economic status) wasn’t always central to its

discourse in the country. Pre-1970’s, the movement was marginal in Nigeria, prominent among

those neglected by the country’s patriarchal and neopatrimonial structures – namely women and

youths (Marshall 2009). As Kolapo (2018) notes, “studies of Nigeria Pentecostalism agree that

the movement disdained politics before the 1970s, as it focused rather on evangelism and the

preparation of its adherents for the apocalyptic second coming of Christ and the imminent end of

4

the world” (p. 247). It was in fact characterized by its anti-materiality. Citing a colleague’s

description of its early converts in Nigeria, Marshall (2009) writes, “they always looked so poor

and shabby, and instead of studying for exams, they would stay up all night praying for good

results” (p.77). There was, however, an emphasis on an egalitarian distribution of power

accessibly by its converts through prayer (Marshall, 2009).

By the mid- 80s, the new wave, riding on the boom and subsequent bust of the Nigerian

oil economy witnessed a significant reworking and re-conceptualization of the codes, symbols

and practices that had distinguished the earlier movement in Nigeria. There was a renegotiation

of the Christian subject and their relationship with the rapidly changing neoliberal market economy

(Marshall, 2009). This was reflected in the reworking of the values of the movement, which was

formerly largely made up of ecumenical groups of youths, organizing around small groups in

private spaces and emphasizing on doctrinal codes of puritanicalness, holiness and self-denial

(Marshall, 2009; Kalu, 2008). The transition was visibly marked by a professionalization of the

movement, with the rise of successful mega churches and educated professional leaders, who

focused on the doctrines of health and wealth (Kalu, 2008).

Today untaxed Pentecostal churches, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, form an

unregulated yet influential economy (Reuters, 2014). Church is big business, but it is also

political. The rise of the mega-pastor has grown alongside that of the ‘big man of the big God’

(Kalu, 2008). A play on influential political term ‘big man’, the term highlights a reinvention of the

moral leader in traditional African societies, as well as the exponential and ever-growing

influence religious leaders are having on the socio-political and economic space within the

country (Kalu, 2008). The intersection of religion and politics has become common practice. The

former legitimizes the practices of the latter and political candidates have been drawn from the

growing pool of prominent religious leaders – as is the case of the country’s current Vice

President, Yemi Osinbajo.

The miracle – a supernatural intervention in the life of a believer – is central to the

doctrine of Pentecostalism. It is the materialization and manifestation of power. However, for the

Pentecostal living within the new wave of a health and wealth gospel, it becomes a vital tool for

navigating the pitfalls of everyday social, health, and economic realities, as well as the

domestication of other abstract realities, such as capitalism and politics. The centrality of

miracles to this Christian practice is highlighted by Nigerian pastor Femi Emmanuel when he

5

claims, “Miracle is the crux of the gospel. Gospel minus miracles becomes ridiculous.

Christianity is the religion of signs and wonders” (as cited in Ukah, 2011, p. 49)

The question of who wields the miracle is of importance in understating dynamics of

power and social relations brought about by Pentecostalism. As evidenced in miracle-sessions,

it points to hierarchical structures of dominance and contradicts the previous narrative of

egalitarianism and democratization of power. Miracle-sessions, which have pastors performing

miracles on their congregants, center the pastor as an avenue and channel of power. This

thesis has a specific focus on this formulation of power and social relations within the practice of

Pentecostalism in Nigeria. To achieve this, the thesis examines its emergent narratives of truth

and reality. As the next chapter will establish, the pervasion and spread of Pentecostalism, with

an influential Pentecostal public, is central to the construction of modernity in Nigeria.

By focusing on televised miracle sessions and not just miracle sessions, I place an

intentional emphasis on its mediation through television. For one, occurring primarily within the

domain of televangelism, miracle-marketing turns to the media (specifically broadcast media)

which in Nigeria has been one of the historical sites of the struggle for political power and

control. The evolution of the Nigerian media, intricately intertwined with that of politics and

Christianity, has been rooted in its role in the negotiation and legitimization of power.

However, of concern to me is the construction of an active imagined community, made

possible by the use of media technologies (Anderson, 1983). Given the growing salience of

Pentecostal religious leaders and their increasing usage of media technologies, I turn to the

televised miracle session to unpack how social and power relations are constructed and enacted

within this community; and to glean a more nuanced understanding of the discourses and

subjectivities that are legitimated and those that are discredited in the process.

To justify the scope of this study, this thesis argues that the prevalence and growing socio-

political influence of Mega pastors in Nigeria – occurring amid factional competition over the

national discourse and subsequent national control, and within a context of rapid technological

innovation and increasing technological accessibility – should point our attention to the emergent

power relations, social relations, and subjectivities they engender. This thesis thus seeks to

answer these research questions in relation to the miracle-marketing:

6

1. How are Pentecostal pastors enacted within Miracle-marketing?

2. What forms of power and social relations are engendered?

3. What discourses/ways of knowing and subjectivities are privileged, transformed,

contested, or ignored?

I should note here that the scope of this study and its focus on Pentecostalism means it

won’t examine other religions and other practices, most notably Islam; it also does not present

in detail a comprehensive history of the broader Christian religion - both of which are relevant

and influential on the Nigerian socio-political climate (see Vaughan, 2016). This thesis places an

emphasis on Christian Nigerians – more specifically Pentecostals in its analysis. This

demarcation is important to clarify as about half of the Nigerian population is Muslim (Pew

Research Center, 2010). However, with the rise of Charismatic Islam or the evangelization of

Islam, which Obadare (2016) links to the spread of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, it is important to

acknowledge that there is a national public sphere where these communities ultimately intermix.

1.2 Methods

Televised miracle sessions have become more and more controversial. From pastors goading

congregants to eat grass for healing to a general debasement in the presentation of the afflicted,

there often a sense of irrationality and absurdity about these practices, as well as those who

partake in them. Yet, I situate it as a legitimate Christian practice for a number of analytical

reasons. Miracle-marketing is as religious as it is political – in the sense that it transforms and/or

perpetuates hegemonic power relations and structures with implications that reverberate outside

the domains of religion. Leaning on the scholarship of Asad (2007), I frame these sessions as

discourse that embeds, negotiates, and potentially transforms systems and relations of power. As

such, I turn to Critical Discourse Analysis to deconstruct three miracle-sessions.

This paper leans on Fairclough (1995; 2006), supplemented by Fowler, Hodge, Kress, &

Tress (1979) and Kress & van Leeuwen (2005) to deconstruct the practice. My focus on the

engendered social relations, subjectivities and power dynamic make them an ideal choice.

Leaning on the broader history and discourse of Pentecostalism in Nigeria and Critical Discourse

Analysis, I have used the afore mentioned research questions to deconstruct the practice. My

case study is TB Joshua. A brief biography and reasons for my choice follow this section.

7

1.3 Case Study: TB Joshua – Miracle worker, King Maker

In early April 2019, representatives of the parents’ association of the Chibok girls,

travelled more than 48 hours from the North of Nigeria down to the country’s bustling

commercial capital (Nwaubani, 2019). Five years ago, their daughters had been kidnapped by

the Boko Haram, a terrorist sect. Their abduction sparked a global campaign -

#bringbackourgirls, spread by social media that saw the involvement of global celebrities and

influential figures, including the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

Five years on and with over a third of the girls still missing, amidst accidents and

mysterious deaths of parents, the kidnapping has taken a new interpretation. “Something is

pursuing us in one way or the other”, one of the parents noted (Nwaubani, 2019, para 4). From

her quote, she introduces a narrative of an unpredictable and uncontrollable violent force that

has targeted them which they can’t escape. This interpretation highlights the insecurity and

violence that currently plagues the country, which is compounded by the incapacity and

widespread corruption of the public sector.

I begin with this story because it is telling that the parents of the Chibok girls have turned

to one of the country’s most influential televangelist – TB Joshua, for help. Their reasons point

to the powerlessness of public institutions and the powerfulness of TB Joshua, grounded in his

miracles, which reveals not only a breakdown of trust between the state and its citizens but an

emergence and legitimization of new actors to play the expected role of state institutions that

are supposed to ensure the security and well-being of all citizens. As a representative of the

parents’ association notes, “The reason why we chose to go and see him is that we have seen

the work of the ministry of women affairs, the federal government and many other people, and

till this time, there is no news about the girls in the bush” (Nwaubani, 2019, para 24). They

further add that, “...we have seen him on TV, and we see how he works miracles” (para 23).

This is not the first-time citizens have turned to TB Joshua in a time of crisis. The 2014 West-

African Ebola outbreak saw a delegation from the Lagos state ministry of health officially visit TB

Joshua to seek his cooperation in disallowing the entry of patients into SCOAN (Akioye, 2014).

He would later send out 4,000 bottles of miracle water to Sierra Leone, the country most

affected by Ebola, in response (“TB Joshua”, 2014).

8

Temitope Balogun Joshua, commonly referred to as TB Joshua, founded the Synagogue

Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in 1987. Ukah (2016, p. 215) importantly notes this occurred in

a context of national socio-economic deterioration. As a response, his message and subsequent

popularity have been tied to his response to this deterioration through the restoration of his

congregation (Ukah, 2016). He has built a reputation around his miracle-water miracles (healing

and poverty alleviation), his prophecy/predictions and exorcisms. His services have attracted

hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, including influential political figures. The

current Liberian president, George Weah, famously visited a Sunday service before the

elections in 2017 (“Liberia Election: George Weah don go T.B Joshua church”, 2017). Other

visitors have included President Fredrick Chiluba of Zambia, who attended a miracle session

during and after his presidential term (Olukoya, 2004) and the late president of Ghana, Atta Mills

(“TB Joshua”, 2014).

Media technologies have been central to TB Joshua’s national and global spread. The

church has an active website (scoan.org). His active Facebook page, TB Joshua Ministries, is

followed and liked by well over 3 million people (TB Joshua Ministries, n.d). His YouTube

channel, Emmanuel TV, has over a million subscribers and averages 500 million combined

views (Emmanuel TV, n.d). He is, according to the BBC, Nigeria’s biggest exporter of

charismatic Christianity (“TB Joshua”, 2014). This global focus is highlighted in his services that

often employ Spanish and French translators.

TB Joshua established Emmanuel TV as a platform that streams Sunday services and

broadcasts miracle sessions in 2007. Apart from its YouTube channel, it is viewable via its own

website and a number of cable platforms. It’s YouTube channel, which this thesis utilized, was

founded in 2007 and has the following description:

Founded by T.B. Joshua of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos, Nigeria, Emmanuel TV is a television station with one way and one job. The way is Jesus Christ and the job is to talk about Him to others through words and deeds. Our motto is simple - changing lives, changing nations and changing the world. God's Word is the most effective instrument for change. The people hear and change. Nations hear and change. The world hears and changes. (Emmanuel TV, n.d)

As Ukah (2016, p. 215) notes, TB Joshua is the most “enigmatic and controversial

religious leader in Africa”. Although mired in controversy, he continues to be an influential figure

within and outside of Nigeria. It is for this reason that I have chosen him as a case study. In

9

2011, after three people in London with HIV died when they stopped their medication, the

African Health Policy Network spoke of SCOAN’s alleged role (Dangerfield, 2011). In 2013 a

miracle-water sale led to a fatal stampede in Ghana that killed four people (“Ghana stampede

kills four”, 2013). Despite being ostracized by official Christian bodies in Nigeria he has and

continues to grow a strong community of believers in Nigeria as well as beyond its borders.

TB Joshua has built a strong community of believers that flock to SCOAN on Sundays,

as well as to his healing services held across the globe. In June 2019, TB Joshua’s first healing

service in Jerusalem drew thousands of people from around the world, including nationals from

Czech Republic, Mexico, China, and Haiti to name a few (Shpigel, 2019). His media coverage

also reveals his influence on Nigerian and African politics. His influence on the political and well

as the daily lives of his congregants point to the emergent social and power dynamic that

concerns the scope of this thesis.

In this thesis, I will be deconstructing three of his miracle sessions to uncover their

narratives of truth and reality and the embedded power and social relations; and I will explore

their implications. As mentioned previously, my thesis focuses on Pentecostal Christianity and

power in Nigeria. To achieve this, in the next chapter I explore the broader context of

Pentecostalism and power in Nigeria. I do this to establish the historicity of Pentecostal pastors

and their growing influence on the Nigerian political sphere. As such, chapter two provides the

background and context for this thesis. Due to my focus on the mediation of the miracle, I

explore the media’s political role in Nigeria, which has largely informed how Pentecostal pastors

use broadcast technologies. I provide a historical account of miracle-marketing and Pentecostal

pastors – within the evolution of the media, politics and Christianity in Nigeria. I situate the

media in Nigeria as a historical site of the struggle for political power and control. In recognition

that lived experiences occur amid struggle, the concluding part of this chapter shifts its gaze to

an exploration of Pentecostal Christianity. It considers the norms and beliefs that inform

Pentecostalism and the emergent practice of miracle-marketing.

Chapter three outlines the ideological and theoretical assumptions that inform this study

and how they have shaped the research. The goal of this chapter is twofold. Simply put, it

presents how this research was studied and why. The latter comes before the former, explaining

conceptual use, ideological underpinnings and resultant methodology. Arguing against an

essentialization that dichotomizes good versus bad religion, I frame Pentecostalism as a

10

discursive tradition (Asad, 2009) and miracle-marketing as one of its discursive practices. This

framework distances the concept of religion from a narrative of moral essentialization and allows

this research to analytically deconstruct what would have hitherto been referred to as an

‘irrational’ practice. Furthermore, I outline my chosen methodology of Critical Discourse

Analysis.

I analyze the three selected videos in chapter four. Drawing from Critical Discourse

Analysis scholarship, I explore their narratives of truth and reality. I focus on the discursive

construction of TB Joshua, the miracle seeker and other participants within the video,

interrogating how subjectivities are constructed and how power is negotiated. In reference to the

narratives of Pentecostalism, I explore how the miracle builds itself in relation to other

discourses and institutions. My findings point to a construction of hierarchy between discourses

that privileges the miracle as the ultimate source of power. I note how societal ties, traditional

practices, and institutional relevance are renegotiated and challenged within the miracle

discourse.

I conclude my thesis in chapter five, highlighting the trends I have observed in my

analysis. This thesis makes a contribution to the literature of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, as well

as the broader literature of religion and politics. By deconstructing miracle-sessions, it highlights

the continuing political relevance of religion in Nigeria and explores one of the ways this is

perpetuated.

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Chapter 2. Background to the study and literature review

2.1 The politics in (and of) Religion: Framing the social and political relevance of Pentecostalism and its pastors

Of key concern, in African Studies, has been the centrality of the religious within the

secular state in most African countries, contradicting long-held assumptions of a classical and

singular modernity, where “men” rather than God, determine their futures and run their own

societies. Religion, as the literature points out, has played a significant role in perpetuating

current systems of power as well as contesting them. It is also implicated in (re)negotiating new

forms of social, political and economic organizations. Yet the influence of religion on politics

cannot be neatly dissected. For one, the dichotomy between religion and politics that Western

scholars have argued is necessary itself is problematic. Furthermore, there is a divergence in

thought when defining what constitutes the political. The next sections consider these

arguments and relate them to the emergence and political relevance of Pentecostal pastors and

subsequently Miracle-marketing.

2.1.1 Politics as Institution and Politics as Discourse

That religion produces alternative forms of social, political and economic organizations is

a central argument in the literature. Within the context of the state’s withdrawal and growing

informal economies in Nigeria, Meagher (2009), for example, highlights the role of Islam in

restructuring communities and contesting older hegemonic economic structures. As she points

out, “religious movements played a central role in challenging, or restructuring, the economic

dominance of founding communities within the clusters.” (Meagher, 2009, p. 407) In view of the

globality of Islam and Christianity and the transnational linkages they form in Africa outside of

the state, she calls for more nuanced studies that interrogate the relationships between religious

practices and our understanding of political change in contemporary Africa (Meagher, 2009).

Her perspective echoes the concerns and views of Maxwell (1998), who interrogates the

political and economic implications of contemporary Pentecostalism. In reference to the works

of Martin (1990) and Gifford (1990), he highlights the lack of academic attention given to

Pentecostalism and its contribution to shaping political activities and the “formation of capitalist

12

attitudes and activities” and (Maxwell, 1998, p. 350). Citing Gifford (1991), he notes of

Pentecostalism’s influence on economic attitudes:

By advocating the gospel of prosperity, it [born-again Christianity] dissuades adherents

from evaluating the present economic order, merely persuading them to try to be

amongst those who benefit from it. With its emphasis on personal healing, it diverts

attention from social ills that are crying out for remedy. Its stress on human wickedness

and the fallen nature of 'the world' is no incentive to social, economic and constitutional

reform. By emphasising personal morality so exclusively, it all but eliminates any interest

in systemic or institutionalised injustice. By making everything so simple, it distracts

attention from the very real contradictions in the lives of so many in Southern Africa.

(Maxwell, 1998, p. 351)

It is interesting to note and important to point out that a significant number of

commentators articulate the centralization of the religious as being closely tied to weak

institutions and weak states African states. Within this body of literature, a lack of faith in the

secular, from years of political and/or economic instability to ideological mistrust, plays a

significant role in driving citizens to religion. This lens has been particularly useful in exploring

the emergence of political religion. Villalon (1999), for example, centers the role a crisis of

legitimacy in traditional political processes and generational differences in Senegal have on the

rise of political Islam. Obadare (2010), offering a similar viewpoint, highlights the influence of the

population’s lack of confidence in the secular state as a moral bearer on the increasing

fundamentalism in Nigeria.

Within such contexts, religious institutions and their leaders are intimately imbricated in

the political and hegemonic struggle for power – playing the role of opposition or serving to

perpetuate current systems of power. Friedman’s (1995) analysis of the Church in Kenya under

Arap Moi provides an example of the church as political, implicated in the struggle and

contestation of political legitimacy. In the Nigerian context, and, on the other end of the

spectrum, Obadare (2006) highlights the role the church played in the formation of a theocratic

class, which served to legitimize the ruling party. He brings to the fore the instrumentalization of

religious discourse amid tensions between the Christian South and the Muslim North in the

creation of this class. Citing the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] (CAN, 1989), he notes of

their position:

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Truly politics may be a dirty game – but who will make it clean? If Christians distance themselves from politics that leads to leadership, then demons will have a field day as had been the case with Nigeria up till today. If demons govern and rule us and burn our churches and marginalise us and treat us like second class citizens in our country of posting, then why should the Christian complain?. when will the righteous be in authority? Is it only when Christ comes? We do not think so. (as cited in Obadare, 2006, pp. 668)

But two points are important to raise in view of this perspective. An increasing amount of

research redirects our attention to the specific state formation process of sub-Saharan nation-

states and the consequent reframing of religion’s prominence in politics in these states. This

perspective rightly implicates the colonial history of most Sub-Saharan African countries.

Moving beyond the rhetoric of the Global South’s failure to modernize, it analyzes the

current the political and social organization of these states as a result of a complex and specific

history. These studies argue that the centralization of religion is best understood within a history

of a religious-educated political elite, inherited social institutions conceived by European

missionaries and the instrumentalization of religious identities in the struggle for power among a

diverse and fractionalized people (Haynes, 1996; Gifford, 2004).

This view is highlighted by Handelman and Lindquist (2012) when they note regarding

religion and politics, that “complex webs of power known as “politics” and actions fueled by

sentiments connected to what we classify as “religion” cannot be understood separately from

each other” (p. 4). In a similar vein, Vaughan (2016) contends that religious structures have

been integral to the formation of the modern Nigerian state and society. His analysis

emphasizes the intricate and historical relationship Islam and Christianity have had on shaping

collective social and political action, as well on the formation of ethnic and regional identities. He

offers a nuanced analysis, arguing that the “persistence of Muslim and Christian structures has

consistently produced contending— and competing— doctrines, practices, and ideologies to

transform Nigeria’s complicated social and political landscape” (Vaughan, 2016, p. 2) A similar

observation leads Falola (1998) to contest the validity of the term secular in defining the

Nigerian state.

The second point and the third perspective, in relation to the aforementioned literature

questions the normative use of the term politics. Forwarded by Marshall (1995) and Cophan

(1990), they contest an understanding of politics that is limited to institutions and structures,

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arguing it to be a reductionism that affects the study political religion. Marshall (1995) calls for a

more nuanced understanding that moves beyond a focus on “elite interactions between the

state and leaders of institutions within civil society” (p. 241). Instead, she draws attention to

politics not as procedural or institutional but as discourse. Situating Christianity also as

discourse, she argues for a focus on their mutual construction that articulates them as

potentially competing serving to create an imagined form of society with its own narratives and

representations of power (pp. 242-243). This leads her to argue for more attention to the

“narrative, symbolic forms of the political, articulated outside the narrow elite sphere of

institutional politics and state rhetoric” (ibid). Her argument, thus, encourages us to see the

social construction of politics as an ongoing struggle within the public sphere, which implicates

the dominant discourses within the sphere.

I draw on Marshall’s positioning to highlight the significance of the discourse constructed

within Miracle-marketing. What I highlight here and the key to her point is that religion - in this

case, Pentecostal Christianity and democracy or any other form of institutionalized politics are

both discourses that serve to create an imagined form of society with their narratives and

representations of power (Marshall, 1995, pp.243-44). To reflect on the religious is to reflect on

new political languages that inform how people choose to live, experience, and participate in the

construction of their institutionalized political and economic world (ibid).

I first establish the historicity of Pentecostal pastors by centering what has become an

institution, and its engagement with, as well as its influence on, the Nigerian political sphere. As

such the next section provides the background and context for this thesis. Following my emphasis

on mediation, I acknowledge that Pentecostal pastors operate within the media with a distinct

history – a history that is reflected and also informs their use of these technologies. The first part

of this chapter expands on this history, historicizing miracle-marketing and Pentecostal pastors –

within the evolution of the media, politics and Christianity in Nigeria. It centers the role of the

media (specifically broadcast media) in Nigeria as a historical site of the struggle for political power

and control. This chapter contends that the rise of the ‘big-man of God’ and consequently miracle-

marketing ties itself to this evolution. In recognition that lived experiences occur amid struggle,

the concluding part of this chapter shifts its gaze to an exploration of Pentecostal Christianity. It

considers the norms and beliefs that inform Pentecostalism and the emergent practice of miracle-

marketing.

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2.2 A brief history of the ‘big-man of the big God’: Media, Televangelism, and power in Nigeria

Christianity, political power and the media in Nigeria weave themselves together as

intersecting strands, with each transforming the other’s evolution in the formation of the Nigerian

social fabric. A historical overview of the Nigerian media locates it as the center of the struggle

for power and control. From regional political actors to businessmen, he who owned the media

controlled the discourse and gained needful visibility in the competition over the diverse and

divisive nation’s political and economic resources (Oso, 2011).

2.2.1 Nationalists in suits: The Nigerian media pre-independence

The historical link between the spread of Christianity and the emergence of mass media

platforms in Nigeria begins before the country was amalgamated and officially conceived. Such

‘Missionary journalism’ platforms, similar to their sister schools emerging during this era, served

the dual purpose of proselytization and inculcating western values within the colonial subjects

(Oso, 2011).

The evolution of the media within this era would morph, years later, into a space for

nationalist struggle, as Nigerian elites and beneficiaries of these systems took over the production

of the platforms (ibid). The very platforms which centered the creation of the colonial subject

centered the struggle for its emancipation.

It should be noted, however, economic interests underlined the upsurge of nationalist

media, an often-neglected fact (Oso, 1991, p. 3). Economic competition between the elites, who

ran these platforms focused on the profitability of content. As Oso (1991) historical account

explains, the entrance of the commercialized nationalist paper, the West African Pilot owned by

Nnamdi Azikwe, a wealthy businessman cum politician and the future president of independent

Nigeria, proved the profitability of nationalist media, which had hitherto been run as a one-man

business.

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2.2.2 The Media, ‘Big men’ and Power: Negotiating power post-independence

The end of colonial rule opened Nigeria up for renewed negotiations of power. The new

country constituted of ethno-regions, each with their own regional political parties jockeying for

national political and economic control. The media space evolved post-independence from

privately owned to government owned, as former businessmen became the ruling politicians. The

country was characterized by this struggle for power and it was marked by insecurity and violence

(Uche, 1989).

The evolution of Nigeria’s political system reflected strong patterns of identity politics and

a privatization of politics. Formal and impersonalized channels that centered traditional

frameworks of the legal-rational-state were abandoned in favor of informal and personalized

patron-client networks that saw an increasing politicization of identities - primarily the ethnic

identity (Cheeseman, 2015, p. 90); growing a political system of “Plural Citizenships” (Corten and

Marshall-Fratani, 2001, p. 96). Through systems of patronage operated by ‘Big men’, dominant

ethnic identities were mobilized and instrumentalized in a bid for political power (Kratt, 2015). As

resources began to be distributed along these networks of patronage, dictating who had access

to what, ethno-clientelistic linkages formed the base of political and social relations in the country.

The Nigerian media played a significant role in fostering and legitimizing these relations.

Its evolution within this space led to the emergence of ethnic media that were divisive and

sectarian. Historically, as Uche (1989) delineates, operating along ethnic lines they served to

“play the leading role of promoting the political, social and economic aspirations of their tribesmen”

(p. xvii). Thus, further centralizing the importance of identity and its instrumental channels in

accessing power and material resources.

Marked within their emergence was a factional competition over the national discourse; a

struggle over symbols and cultural codes in the imagination and subsequent control of Nigeria.

The importance of identity relations led to a centralization of factional representation and its social

construction within the public space. Allegations of regional misrepresentation and

marginalization at the national level led to demands for an official regionalization of the mass

media (ibid). Regional and national governments further gave “restrictive interpretations” to

existing colonial laws on press freedom, significantly limiting criticisms at both levels; giving room

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for institutional monitoring and surveillance of Non-government owned media platforms – such as

pamphlets and books (Seng and Hunt, 1986, p. 88).

The importance of media within this space effectuated its legitimacy as a tool for legitimate

authority and control. In the 70s and 80s, prevalent military coups often targeted the Federal

Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) premises – the national radio platform (Uche, 1989). The

1976 aborted coup began and ended at the FRCN. Additionally, it was through the Eastern

regional channel, Radio Biafra that the secessionist state of Biafra officially emerged in 1967,

before its eventual collapse three years later. To control the media was to control the state, which

was a position that military ruler, Olusegun Obasanjo, adhered to when he centralized the media

in the 1980’s. (Ganiyu, Okidu, & Ajaga, 2013, p. 48)

As such, in the absence of adequate representation, violence became a vital bargaining

chip for the reworking of identities for minorities and those excluded.

2.2.3 Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity and the democratization of power in an oil economy

It is within this scene of neopatrimonialism and violence, occurring alongside a global

transnational evangelical movement that Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity found its bearing in

Nigeria. With its spread was a reworking of symbols and ontologies of power, which had profound

influence on the everyday lived experiences of its proponents.

As Marshall (2009) highlights, evangelical narratives of the movement that preached the

biblical idiomatic of 'the first shall be the last, the last first' and acknowledged a breaking off with

unbelievers, encouraged the 'losers' of these clientelistic networks, (consisting mainly of “youth,

women and the lower class”), to reject these old hierarchies and differentiations “upon which

dominant relations of power…and strategies for upward mobility had rested" (p. 118). Reworking

the culture of social solidarity and social support in postcolonial Nigeria, evangelical Christianity

presented avenues that promoted individuality and self-worth outside the previously existing

social norms (ibid).

The oil-boom of the 1970's, which created a disproportionate small number of wealthy

Nigerians led to a public hankering after fast wealth that required minimum effort (Smith, 2001).

This emergence of fast wealth changed dominant perceptions of wealth and accumulation,

18

centrally among those who had been estranged from its tangible sources. As Marshall (2009)

notes of wealth and accumulation in this era, “they seemed to have become unmoored from the

social conditions of their production, appearing as if by magic"; leading to emergence of an

"economy of miracles" (p. 107).

The message of evangelical Christianity, within this ‘miracle’ economy, challenged

dominant narratives of access to power that underlined what was Nigeria’s neopatrimonial

economy. Power within the narrative of evangelical Christianity democratized access to include

the everyday Christian. It brought about new conceptualizations of Christian power and saw

evangelical Christianity as a legitimate instrument in the control of the material world.

2.2.4 Pentecostal Christianity and the growth of a political Pentecostal public

The oil boom and its subsequent bust marked Nigeria’s full integration into the global

economy. Witnessing the spread of Christianity, it also witnessed a significant reworking and re-

conceptualization of the practices that had distinguished the earlier Pentecostal movement in

Nigeria. The emergent discourse on the utilitarian role of Christianity was centered not only at the

individual level but collective Nigeria as well. Reliant on media platforms including posters, home

videos but more prominently the television broadcast, its message soon pervaded the Nigerian

consciousness.

At the individual level was a renegotiation of the Christian subject and their relationship

with the rapidly changing neoliberal market economy. This was reflected in the reworking of the

values of the movement. Largely made up of ecumenical groups of youths organizing around

small groups in private spaces, it emphasizes doctrinal codes of puritanicalness, holiness and

self-denial (Marshall, 2009; Kalu, 2008). The transition was marked by a professionalization of

the movement with rise of successful mega churches and educated and professional leaders.

Emerging value systems focused on the doctrines of health and wealth. With a born-again

doctrine, prayer, hard work and generosity it presented itself as a tool to access the economic

benefits of Christian power (Marshall, 2009, p. 113). The social construction of the ideal

prosperous well-to do Christian dominated the Nigerian consciousness, legitimating the spread

of capitalist attitudes and practices.

19

Christianity within this transition in the 1990s at the collective level saw its mobilization for

specific localized political and economic contexts. Evangelical Christian tenets, specifically the

intercession, became an important instrument for political praxis in the achievement of national

economic development, linking the religion to the political space (Kalu, 2008). This was a practice

not exclusive to Nigeria during this era, as Kalu (2008) highlights in his research on these

movements, “The avowed goal was delivering African nations from spiritual forces that have

stunted economic growth and scourged the fate of the black race… the vision was to mobilize

intentionally an army for what God was about to do in Africa and through Africa” (p.20).

The construction of the imagined Nigerian Pentecostal Christian community emphasized

a conspicuous interaction between religion and politics in the ways symbols of power and

leadership were represented. A particular practice of note, Ukah (2006) points out, was the

coopting of dominant political symbols in evangelical posters. By coopting things such as

positionality and text, evangelical preachers borrowed frameworks in their social construction that

centered hierarchical power-relations and economic dependency that defined political leaders.

Emerging from a divisive and corrupt society, religious leaders became the state’s

sharpest critics. They also transformed social roles, playing the role of the state and directly

catering to the needs of communities (Vaughan, 2016). as described below. In this role, they were

able to build, mobilize, and speak on behalf of a rapidly growing demographic (Falola, 1998). This

importantly occurred during the globalization of media systems in the 1990s and the liberalization

of the Nigerian media, which allowed non-state actors to contribute and influence public discourse

on a national scale (Vaughan, 2016).

These churches’ integration with popular culture, saw the growth of religion-based

entertainment that helped spread their mission and reach (ibid). Further cementing the role and

place of Pentecostal leaders in the Nigerian consciousness, was sudden end of Nigeria’s military

rule, with the death of the Muslim ruler – Lt General Sani Abacha, which was allegedly foreseen

and prophesized by a Pentecostal pastor (Vaughan, 2016). His death saw the ushering in of a

new civilian government led by a Christian, President Segun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo’s presidency, as Obadare (2006) notes, was legitimated through the

instrumentalization of religious discourse, which construed Muslims and the North of Nigeria as

the Other in contention with the Christian South. With a Christianization of Nigerian politics came

20

an emergence of a theocratic class - comprising influential Pentecostal leaders. This emergence

reflected a long history dating back to colonial Nigeria that centers the mobilization of religious

and ethnic identity in a bid to achieve political legitimacy.

With increasing access to media technologies, religious discourse forwarded by the

Pentecostal elite played a role in the political struggle over the definition of Nigeria (Obadare,

2006). The use of varied mass media forms by churches, gaining ground in the 1990s - an era

marked by the deregulation and privatization of broadcast industry (Ganiyu et al., 2013) - became

central to these constructions and the spread of the community.

The exponential economic growth of the church saw churches operate more within the

realms of business practices – opening schools, hospitals, bookshops all charging premium fees

(Ukah, 2011b). This occurring alongside the growing practice of the commodification of religious

activities, which included the sales of holy water, anointing oil, holy handkerchiefs, church tapes,

and other church branded memorabilia; sold by the church and/or a third party. The burgeoning

growth of the Nigerian Pentecostal movement served as fodder for the large number of struggling

privately owned media platforms. Church became good business for diverse groups, creating a

burgeoning religious economy in the country.

The upsurge of evangelical Christianity witnessed a plethora of new churches, leading to

competition for membership and loyalty– a competition that was centered on these media

platforms, particularly the television. Within this space, the television played the dual role of

televangelism and providing a political platform for leaders (Ukah, 2011a).

As a televangelic instrument, television as a media platform functioned to proselytize but

more so to gain membership for the church from the existing pool of believer (ibid). The audio and

visual dimensions of the television aided the centralization of the rhetoric, charisma and visual

presentation of the pastor, which served to construct an image of a powerful shepherd to a distinct

privileged body (Ihejirika, 2012). The miracle subsequently emerged, playing an important role in

attestation of this claim, as a symbol of pastoral power.

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2.3 The discourse of Miracles and Pentecostalism

The centralization of the miracles as a normative Christian practice, Ihejirika (2012) points

out, is tied to the specific manifestation of the Pentecostal within the broader context of the African

continent. Pentecostalism is a denomination/movement of Christianity that centers the experience

of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life (Asamoah-Gyadu, 2012). Its discourse emphasizes

narratives of conversion, holiness, rupture, breaking away, and renewal (Meyer, 1998; Marshall,

2009; Engelke 2010). Furthermore, with a centralization of the Holy spirit - the divinity associated

with power - the movement places a strong emphasis on a “radical transforming power” in the life

of its believers (Ihejirika, 2012, p. 173; See also Asamoah-Gyadu, 2005). The term Neo-

Pentecostalism has been used to highlight the syncretism and change religions take on when

they leave their original cultural contexts. In the way locals interpret and adapt their use in new

spaces, these ‘foreign’ religions end up being inflected by local distinctions and cultural practices.

It is on this note of syncretism in sub-Saharan Africa, that Bourdillion (1993) notes:

It is generally recognized that when religious conversion takes place in Africa, the new religions are understood within the categories of the old. New Christians may still emphasize the need for material well-being, or they may still understand diseases in terms of spirits or witches. Traditional religions fed into each other in a similar way in the past. Understanding necessarily involves fitting what is new to the existing patterns of the mind. (as cited in Siegel, 2013).

This thesis, however, uses the broader term Pentecostalism but places its emphasis on

its manifestation in Nigeria – which is informed by its manifestations within the continent. The

salience of the Pentecostal epistemic in Africa has been attributed to the similarities it shares

with local African ontologies, including ontologies of power and its relation to materiality (see

Marshall, 2009; Ijehirika, 2012; Ukah, 2011a)– i.e. power comes from the spiritual and has

material implications. This location and positioning of power privileges the spiritual in these

ontologies. The abstraction or spiritualization of power leads to distinct interpretations of the

world around. As Ellis and ter Haar (2004) highlight, because power is perceived to be the

essence of life, the two “inextricably tied up” together, one comes to understand that “To live is

to have power” and “to be sick or to die is to have less of it” (p. 2). The Pentecostal epistemic,

finds its relevance in its similar expressions of these truths and the subsequent implications on

how reality is lived out. Ranger (2007), for example, draws attention to a focus, occurring

between Pentecostalism and indigenous ontologies, on “the experience of prophecy, the desire

22

for ritual healing, the desire to eradicate witchcraft, the experience of spirit possession, and the

passion for creating holy places” (p. 65)

In view of this and moving beyond a rhetoric of indigenising/ Africanization as well as the

narrative of a globalization of homogeneity, Robbins (2004) emphasizes the hybridity and

flexibility that characterizes Pentecostalism. He highlights Pentecostalism’s ability to introduce

its own logic, while also preserving tradition. This characteristic of Pentecostalism, he argues

has seen the emergence of churches that are “organizationally local and responsive to local

cultural concerns”, yet still impacted by the globalization of modernity (Robbins, 2004, p. 119).

Vaughan (2016) echoing the thoughts of theologian Nimi Wariboko, posits a similar argument.

He writes, “(it) reveals a dialectical progress between the transcendence and the temporal,

sacred, and profane, local and global, engaging many themes that are emblematic of Nigeria’s

rapidly changing society” (p. 140).

Of importance to thesis, is the emergent narratives of power as well as its enactment.

My interest is on the social relations and subjectivities that are engendered by its discourse. In

the above historicization of miracle-marketing, I pointed out that the narrative of Pentecostalism,

gaining salience within the boom and bust of Nigeria’s oil economy, embeds an instrumental

and utilitarian view of Christianity. Tying back to local ontologies of power, there is a reinvention,

Hackett (1998) notes, of the categories of power and status. They are attributed to the spiritual

(ibid). This viewpoint, emerging within a specific political and economic context, challenged the

dominant power and economic structures as well as the ethno-social networks that underlined

neopatrimonial politics in Nigeria (see Marshall, 2009).

In the logic of the Pentecostal episteme, the singular Christian is emphasized to highlight

a narrative of a new individualization - the ‘renewed/born again’ individual situated in a new

‘Christian’ community. It entails a break with the past, including their families and ties to their

communities, as well as shared religious and cultural practices. Siegel (2013) highlights the

significance of this separation, “They are more than willing to "make a complete break with the

past," even when this means cutting themselves off from their poor and elderly relatives, and

ancestor spirits are regarded as diabolical demons.” (p. 19). This ‘breaking with the past’,

Engelke (2010) notes, is one of the major themes of Pentecostalism in Africa. It highlights a

renunciation of the past and a self-transformation on the way to becoming modern. He notes of

this discursive focus on rupture, “Looking forward always requires looking back, and thus the

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language of the break, and the past it circumscribes, is a necessary feature of the modernities in

question. What we have here is a paradoxical demand of remembering to forget” (Engelke,

2010, p. 177).

Implicated within this perspective, therefore, is the role of Pentecostalism on ideas of

‘modern’ and ‘modernity’ and its construction in the African context. Ranger (2007) importantly

and rightly argues, Pentecostalism is not a return to African religion. Pentecostalism is a

reflection of an ongoing ‘modernization’. Vaughan (2016) referencing the thoughts of Jacob

Oluna, notes of its complicity in the construction of ideas of modernity within the country. He

argues, “Pentecostalism is a phenomenon inseparable from modernity and should be seen as

complementing the increasingly cosmopolitan character of business, ideas, and people.” (p.

139). This relation is similarly highlighted by Meyer (1998) in her analysis on the language of

rupture found in Pentecostal episteme. She writes of time as an epistemological category, within

both narratives, that presents a picture of a desire for progress and a continuous renewal.

However, the past remains a central concern for Pentecostalism, reflecting a continued

action of remembering or renunciation, in which old identities are continuously reconstructed. As

she explains of deliverance rituals (healing sessions):

People are held to realize that they are in the grip of ‘the past’, which is represented as a fearful thing out of control, and that they can gain control over their individual lives- indeed, become modern individuals – by remembering, and only subsequently untying all the links connecting them with their ‘past’. (Meyer 1998, 339)

In view of this relationship, Engelke (2010), argues for attention by scholars on the re-

alignment and reconstruction of self and the inscription of new traditions taken on by the new

convert after breaking away. The miracle gains salience within what Gifford (1998) refers to as a

Deliverance Theology, which depicts sickness as a manifestation of evil.

In this perspective, one comes to see the miracle – a supernatural intervention in the life

of a believer – as the materialization and manifestation of power. It is the miracle that banishes

sickness and brings prosperity. As such, it becomes a vital tool for navigating the pitfalls of

everyday social, health, and economic realities, as well as the domestication of other abstract

realities, such as capitalism and politics. The centrality of miracles to this Christian practice is

highlighted by Nigerian pastor Femi Emmanuel when he claims, “Miracle is the crux of the

24

gospel. Gospel minus miracles becomes ridiculous. Christianity is the religion of signs and

wonders” (as cited in Ukah, 2011a, p. 49)

The question of who wields the miracle is of importance in understating new dynamics of

power and social relations brought about by these changes. As evidenced in miracle-sessions, it

points to a replication of old structures of dominance and contradicts notions of new democratic

power relations occurring between the pastor and their congregant. Miracle-sessions, which

have pastors performing miracles on their congregants, center the pastor as an avenue and

channel of power. Hackett (1998), echoing the thoughts of van Dijk (1992) similarly highlights,

“Protection does come, however from the moral armour of the true Christian community…Power

and blessings are available, mediated to the faithful by the anointed man (sometimes woman of

God)” (Hackett, 1998, p. 265). Old practices of solidarity seem to find new avenues under

religious lines, the ‘big man’ becomes the ‘big man of the big God’ (Kalu, 2008).

As historicized above, the rise of the big-man of God saw the televangelist become a

brand with considerable social and symbolic capital. In the competition for loyalties and social

capital, miracles transform into “unique selling proposition” targeted at the religious consumer

(Ukah, 2011a, p. 48). The televised miracles and their associated performance, as a form of

capital, gain their currency as signs of power that assert the preacher’s “pastoral authority”

certifying their claim and authenticity (Marshall, 2009). As Ukah (2011a), similarly contends they

become a legitimizing apparatus and “the proof of their divine call to mission” (p. 53). The miracle

becomes currency for the religious leaders. We see this specifically highlighted in the words of

pastor Chris Oyakilome, where he states “Miracles are “your credentials” for preaching the gospel:

“If you preach Jesus Christ and he sent you, he will back up your claims [with miracles]. Now if

he doesn’t back up your claims, you have to find out whether or not you are called” (as cited in

Ukah, 2011a, p. 49)

2.3.1 Mediating the miracle: the centrality of media technologies

While early African evangelists were not the first to utilize media technologies for

religious purposes, more than others they readily embraced and learnt the skills that would

enable them to propagate their religion on a mass scale (Hackett, 1998). By the early 2000s in

Nigeria, miracle sessions on television, bought as airtime by diverse churches, were the norm.

They constituted a dominant form of advertising in the Nigerian television industry. In 2002,

25

Ukah (2014) notes that religious advertising, a multi-million Naira business, was the second

highest spender on prime-time television (as cited in Hackett, 2014). To give an example, as of

2008, the Redeem Christian church of God invested over 8 million naira (55,000 USD) each

quarter on television channels across the country (Ukah, 2008). The legitimacy of miracles

brought about competition and eventual contention among influential religious leaders. Ukah

(2014) notes of this period, “many (Nigerians) transformed into “miracle seekers,” moving from

church to church in search of “a powerful man of God” who could radically transform their

circumstances” (p. 174). The subsequent miracle frenzy and emerging divisive contestations

over illegitimate sources of power led to the eventual 2004 Miracle ban (Borzello, 2004). This

was an attempt by the government to regulate the unregulated religious media space, as well as

the broadcast media industry - which had by now become a liberalized arena (Ukah, 2014).

The miracle-ban of 2004, which banned ‘non-verifiable’ miracles from being displayed on

television has seen the growth of church-owned televangelical stations, broadcast on satellite and

cable networks or new media platforms – such as Emmanuel TV. Creating a symbiotic

relationship between these spaces. Pay TVs’ (as they are often called), regular promotion of free-

to-air televangelical/ religious channels reflects a model of financialization that addresses this

symbiosis. Exploiting their reach beyond Nigeria, the Nigerian preacher is presented with the

opportunity to broadcast across local and national territorial boundaries, growing their socio-

political influence.

The mediation of the miracle has led to a number of reconfigurations. On one hand, there

is a reconfiguration of the relationship they have with the artefact itself. With the miracle being

mediated through the television, which often calls for the believer to physically touch the television

to receive the miracle, a reshaping of the purpose and functioning of the television occurs (see

Lyons & Lyons 1987). Another significant reconfiguration has been the physical church space.

Nigerian televangelism often is a recorded/live broadcast of the church service. As such, the

church, centered as the space where these miracles occur and are broadcast, has been

transformed, from a physical place for “praise and cohesion to a ‘show place’ [lieu de spectacle]

where deliverance and divine healing are staged” (Corten & Ruth Marshall-Fratani, 2001, p. 95).

However, a reconfiguration that concerns this thesis is that of a new public.

Leaning on Price’s (1994) market for loyalties framework, Ukah (2011b) frames these

occurrences within a context of the production and distribution of allegiances between state and

26

non-state actors in Nigeria. As he explains, in the production and consumption of loyalties, sellers

(from government to interest groups) convert myths, dreams and history into power and wealth.

Consumers buy in by exchanging their identity for another and obeying new laws and regulations.

This leads him to view religious organizations should be as social actors competing for public

loyalty. Media technologies gain their significance as instruments utilized by dominant competitors

in the struggle for allegiances (ibid).

While one might critique Ukah (2011b) for an instrumental reading that arguably plays into

the rhetoric of manipulation and control – a rhetoric which glosses over the agency of believers,

his focus brings to the fore the organization of these communities and its mediation through media

technologies.

Another approach one might take is to underline the role of media technologies in the

construction of an imagined community of believers. This perspective borrows from Anderson

(1983), who highlighted the social construction of a nation. Anderson’s emphasis on this invention

leads to an emphasis on the media, the platform through which the imagined community is socially

constructed and further established in the minds of its members. It is imagined by the people who

perceive themselves as part of that group. According to Anderson, a nation is imagined by three

characteristics: limited, sovereign and as a community. Central to this research is his position on

the first characteristic - the nation as limited. In other words, a nation is finite and exclusive. As

Anderson (1983) argues “no nation conceives itself to be coterminous with mankind” (p. 7). Thus,

central to its formation and operation is the continual process of exclusion and inclusion. As such,

the nation becomes a site of struggle. We come to understand the idea of nation as a site that is

mediated by active discussion and struggle. With its production and reproduction tying itself to

struggle over its cultural codes, representation, languages and communication (Opel, 2004).

This perspective is relevant to this thesis. It allows us to glean and look into the constructed

discourses of these communities. Hackett (1998), for example, notes the important role of the

constructed Other (Muslim and unsaved) in the growth of Pentecostal churches. However, that is

not to say that these are not hierarchical communities. Tomaselli and Nkosi (1995) makes this

point when he refers to the authoritarian nature of televangelism in Africa. They note, “The

electronic church (televangelism) constructs viewers as an amorphous homo mechanicus 'mass'

who are spoken 'down to', ministered to, and interacted with by telephone and computers and

direct mail through spin-off ministries” (Tomaselli & Nkosi, 1995, p. 69).

27

This chapter started off by exploring the literature on religion and politics in order to

frame the socio-political relevance of Pentecostalism and its pastors in Nigeria. In reference to

the argument that highlights the influence of religion on the emergence and growth of post-

colonial Nigeria (Falola, 1998; Vaughan, 2016), it presented a historical account of the enduring

ties between Christianity, politics, and the media in the country. As such, it traced the

emergence of Pentecostal leaders as a socio-political influence in the country within this space.

It has argued that Pentecostalism has become salient in the construction of a modern project in

Nigeria. It also interrogated the changing discourse of Pentecostalism in the country – noting its

transition from narratives of egalitarianism and anti-materiality to an emphasis on prosperity and

health that centered the pastor as a miracle worker. Questioning how the miracle-sessions re

performed – i.e. a pastor bestowing the upon a miracle seeker- and exploring the importance of

the miracle in legitimizing pastoral authority, it argued that miracle-sessions are implicated in the

transformation of social and power relations within Pentecostalism. The next chapter continues

with this point by constructing miracle sessions as an important discursive practice within

Pentecostalism.

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Chapter 3. Theoretical assumptions and methodology

It might be said that to study the social or political processes in the non-West (Nigeria in

this case) is to encounter and acknowledge epistemological syncretism and hybridity. Perhaps a

better acknowledgment and focus would be on the ideologies that taint the academic gaze and

the tools that enable it. That methodological frameworks are themselves embedded in

ideological assumptions is not a new thought (see Tuhiwai Smith, 1999). But one is specifically

confronted with this in the study of beliefs and practices that fall at its margins. With that in mind,

this chapter acknowledges the ideological and theoretical assumptions that inform this study

and how they have shaped the research. The goal of this chapter is twofold. Simply put, they

present how this research was studied and why. The latter comes before the former, explaining

conceptual use, ideological underpinnings and resultant methodology.

This thesis argues that there are lessons to be learned and unpacked from miracle-

sessions, as they highlight changing social and power relations occurring between the pastor

and their congregation (see chapter 2). In a context, where Pentecostal leaders are gaining

increased socio-political influence (see chapter 2), this thesis aims to unpack these miracle-

sessions and explore their engendered social and power relations and subjectivities.

Despite a growing interest in religious discourse there remains a dearth in the number of

studies that utilize critical discourse analysis as a research method (see Wijsen, 2011; Hjelm,

2014). A possible reason for this neglect, argued by Hjelm (2014), is the ideological and

normative baggage associated with religion within the Marxist/Critical theory scholarship that

traditionally employs this method. Stemming from Marxist functionalist postulations of religion as

“the opium of the people”, he argues the tendency of critical scholars to engage with religion as

“an historical curiosity” (p. 855). It is for reasons such as these that Martin (2015), in his

‘Theses on the critique of ‘Religion’’, advocates for greater reflexivity on the part of the scholar

who decides to study religion.

The objective of this thesis, as it bears repeating here, is to unpack how social and

power relations are constructed and enacted within a Pentecostal community; and to glean a

more nuanced understanding of the discourses and subjectivities that are legitimated and those

that are discredited in the process. As chapter one established, the prevalence and growing

29

socio-political influence of Mega pastors in Nigeria – occurring amid factional competition over

the national discourse and subsequent national control, and within a context of rapid

technological innovation and increasing technological accessibility – should point our attention

to the emergent power relations, social relations, and subjectivities they engender.

A goal of this thesis has been to locate the televised miracle session (also referred to as

miracle-marketing/ MM) as instrumental to these reconfigurations. While the first chapter

historicized miracle-marketing in Nigeria, this chapter depicts it as a practice that embeds,

negotiates, and transforms systems and relations of power. To achieve the afore-mentioned,

this thesis leans on the thoughts and arguments of critical and post-colonial scholars namely

Assad, Fairclough among others.

Over the years, televised miracle sessions have become more and more controversial.

From pastors goading congregants to eat grass for healing to a general debasement in the

presentation of the afflicted, there often is an implicit irrationality and absurdity in how we view

these practices, as well as those who partake in it. Yet, I situate it as a legitimate Christian

practice for a number of analytical reasons. Miracle-marketing is at once religious as it is

political – in the sense that it transforms and/or perpetuates hegemonic power relations and

structures with implications that reverberate outside the domains of religion.

The central aim of this chapter (and in part this thesis) is to restore rationality to the

practice, in a manner that captures its political instrumentalization without sacrificing or

reductively analysing its ideological/theological underpinnings. Therefore, it is my intention with

this chapter, borrowing the words and eloquence of Marshall (2009):

To clear an analytical space in which we might be able to understand practices and forms of life that are otherwise impossible to recognize from the standpoint of the secular vocabularies instituted in public debates and underwriting social scientific knowledge. (p.3)

Miracle-marketing, as a legitimate Christian/religious practice is situated within the

broader and complex history of the religion in the country, and as such points researchers to its

distinct formulation within the country. However, and quite importantly, it challenges the

essentialization which we associate with religion and its resultant practices in academic study.

For this reason, I have dedicated this chapter to acknowledge and problematize the polemics of

good versus bad religion – specifically its relation to African politics within the literature. I join

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Ellis and ter Haar, among others, to contest such a divide that has pervaded the African Studies

literature.

3.1 Miracle-marketing: Bad vs Good religion. Avoiding the trap of essentialism

Ellis and ter Haar (2004) noting the increasing influence of religion within the continent,

attempted to demystify politics by centering the role of religion within the political. Theorizing a

new way of understanding politics in relation to religion, they challenged the normative religion-

secular divide, highlighting the fluidity that characterized these spaces. Citing the work of

Schatzberg (2001, p. 74), they noted:

Most middle Africans understand that ‘politics’ and ‘religion’ are parts of the same terrain: that power flows between the visible material world and the invisible spiritual world; and that the political kingdom contains a politically significant spiritual terrain. Moreover, intelligent and gifted politicians know the contours of this terrain and are comfortable traversing it in either its material or spiritual manifestations. They understand that in their culture power is unitary and cannot be divided into separate boxes. (as cited in Ellis & ter Haar, 2004, p. 4)

We can trace their attention to religion as politics and politics as religion to the rise of the

cultural turn in African Studies. Writing during an era marked by an increasing religious

revivalism in the continent, scholars displayed strong interests in political implications of belief

systems and practices and their resultant effects on political and social organization. Prior to

this, earlier literature on religion and politics in Africa, as Ranger (1985) notes, was quick to

essentialize the increasing religiosity and religious movements as merely political and as such

mostly instrumental. There was a tendency with this perspective, Falola (1998, p. 8) notes, to

dismiss religious ideological expressions in favor of ‘rational’ instrumental interpretations,

leading to a reductive focus on elite manipulation. An additional problematic trait of these

narratives, Ranger (1985) rightly elucidates, was their focus on disruption instead of continuity –

which removed these practices from broader historical and cultural contexts (see also Ellis & ter

Haar, 2004). With an emphasis to locate the political within the cultural/religious, cultural

analysts bridged the gap between the instrumental political scientists and apolitical

anthropologists. Centered within these narratives, emanating from the cultural turn, was a

general objective to “re-instate culture as a key element in the discourse about twentieth century

African societies” (Ranger, 1985, p. 11).

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The literature saw a growing academic fascination with witchcraft and other ‘deviant’

practices. Leading anthropologists Comaroff and Comaroff (1999), for example, took a closer

look at forms of violent ritual practices stemming from indigenous belief systems. Theorizing

such practices under the banner of an occult economy, they conceived them as attempts to

redirect and renegotiate flows of power within a chaotic modern society. Bayart (1993) and

Chabal and Daloz (1999) would take a somewhat similar position regarding the practices of

witchcraft, which Bayart (1993) saw as a democratizing tool, used by elders as well as the ‘small

men’ to protect economic interests (pp. 248-249). Other scholars also reiterate comparable

arguments (see Niehaus, 1993; Geshiere, 1997).

The cultural turn has not been without its critiques. One of such has been that it has led

to the over-generalization and essentialization of African subjects. Meagher (2006) identifies this

as a cultural primordialism that delegitimizes rather politically empowers African societies.

Another implicit yet significant essentialization has been with the use of categorizations in

analysis that has led to a ‘sorting’ between the normative West and the deviant African

(Marshall 2009). Discussing the politics of categories in African studies, Marshall (2009)

highlights:

Local versus global, Western versus non-Western, “modernity” versus “tradition.” The notion of authenticity is a central analytical tool in the operation of “sorting,” whereby specific practices are allocated to one or other of these categories. These distinctions or oppositions, and indeed the idea of authenticity itself, are not mere analytical categories or heuristic devices. Rather, they are objectifications created through real struggles, through the play of differences between relations of power and knowledge, which from the colonial period up to the present give rise to highly contested processes and practices of identification. (p. 6)

The occult versus religion is one of such categorizations that emerged from this

literature. These categories are important as they become political demarcations that perpetuate

the dichotomy of the savage versus the civilized (See Said, 1978). In response to this, Ellis and

ter Haar (2004) echoing Tylor (1954) advocated for a more inclusive and a broader definition of

religion that would allow the term to encapsulate practices and beliefs that were hitherto

reductively categorized by Western trained academics, problematically as magic, superstition,

and/or the occult.

Their idea of the occult as religious challenges the way Western scholars’ categories

have naturalized occult as a less civilized, more primitive practice than what they categorize as

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religion. They argue that their conceptualization, has the advantage of avoiding “to attribute

moral value to any type of belief” (Ellis & ter Haar, 2004, p. 3). As their writings point out, what is

constituted as religion or religious practice (as an analytical category) for the most part is

conceptually vague. Handelman and Lindquist (2012) in reference to Asad (1993, p. 2003), note

that “defining religion is a political exercise” (Handelman and Lindquist, 2012, p. 22). Religion is

an ideologically-loaded term (Goldstein, W. S., King, R., & Boyarin, J. 2016). And the struggle

for meaning points to the normative bias that complicates the use and conceptualization of this

category within scholarship (see Martin, 2015). However, can the same thing be said about the

more delimited category of Christianity?

3.1.1 Christianity as Discursive Tradition

The argument against an “autonomous essence” that is trans-historical, trans-cultural,

and identifiable as religion, put forth by Asad – a leading post-colonial anthropologist, is worth

reviewing (Asad, 1993). His argumentation points to the importance of acknowledging the

diverse manifestations of religious practices as “discursive traditions” (Asad, 2009).

‘Religion’, as an analytical category, is a socially constructed concept. Its deconstruction

brings to the fore the internal division and inscriptions of power inscribed therein (ibid). This is

Asad’s starting point. In his anthropology of religion, he argues against an “autonomous

essence” that is trans-historical, trans-cultural, and identifiable as religion (Asad, 1993, p. 115).

Such a conceptualization collapses local/particular nuances in view of a supposed universality,

hindering any meaningful analysis of religious practices/ideological expression within a

particular place and time.

His historical analysis points to the importance of acknowledging the prevalence of

discontinuity within religious practices, which not only challenges classic and widely-held

conceptualizations and definitions, but also counters the notion of essentialism or what one

might point to as what is presumed to be the characteristic and nature of true religion. Moving

beyond the category of religion, Asad’s analysis of Islam frames this religion as a discursive

tradition. This leads him to conclude: “Islam is neither a distinctive social structure nor a

heterogeneous collection of beliefs, artifacts, customs, and morals. It is a tradition.” (Asad,

2009, p.20). Conceiving tradition as instructive discourses, he opines of the religion:

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Discourses relate conceptually to a past (when the practice was instituted, and from which the knowledge of its point and proper performance has been transmitted) and a future (how the point of that practice can best be secured in the short or long term, or why it should be modified or abandoned), through a present (how it is linked to other practices, institutions, and social conditions). An Islamic discursive tradition is simply a tradition of Muslim discourse that addresses itself to conceptions of the Islamic past and future, with reference to a particular Islamic practice in the present. (Asad, 2009, p. 20)

What I borrow from Asad for this thesis, is his contestation of Islam (in this case

Christianity) as static and essential. I draw on his thoughts to frame Christianity and the

resultant role of Miracle-marketing therein. By framing Christianity as a discursive tradition that

is representative of its broader history as well as its culturally specific present and future, allows

one to explore how the religion is constructed within the context of Nigeria. Asad’s postulation

restores rationality to religious subjects. As Anjum (2007) notes, its focus on the religion as

discourses “of the thinking subjects with their specific styles of reasoning couched in their

historical and material context” (p. 662). In addition to this, this allows this thesis to move

beyond the language of hybridity and syncretism that underlines the discussion of

Pentecostalism and subsequently Miracle-marketing. In his anthropology of religion his focus on

history as well as its disruption allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis (Asad,

1993). Taking a similar lens to the study of Pentecostalism and MM, one locates its broad

themes, often constructed as indigenized, within Western Christianity (see Ranger, 1987).

Asad’s focus on historicity allows one to shift attention to the mutual-shaping relationship

between a religion’s texts/practices and the current societal institutions as well as its power

structures. Anjum notes of the importance of this centralization:

It is not mere symbols but forms of power that implant true Christian dispositions — power as embodied in law, knowledge (such as punishment in the afterlife), and disciplinary activities of social institutions (family, church, etc.) and the human body (fasting, prayer, penance, etc.). (Anjum, 2007, p. 660).

This thesis therefore frames Miracle-marketing as a legitimate discursive practice of the

larger Christian religion in Nigeria. In so doing it acknowledges that it does not exist in isolation.

It exists within a history of the struggle and power that informs its use as well as the broader

trajectory of Christianity in Nigeria.

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3.2 Turning to Critical (Multimodal) Discourse Analysis

Following the emergent centralization of power within the study, I turn to the method of

Critical Discourse Analysis to deconstruct Miracle-marketing. It might be important to point out

that there is a multiplicity of ways scholars conceive discourse. With each conception

consequently influencing what is analyzed and how.

Asad’s conceptualization, as with most CDA proponents, utilize a Foucauldian

understanding of discourse and it is in this framework that this thesis positions itself. This

position situates truth and knowledge within the context of societal structures and power

relations. Foucault’s positioning of truth and knowledge as discontinuous point to the multiplicity

of truths and knowledges, as well as the subsequent struggle for power. Within this context,

discourse is conceived within the boundaries of language and its modal variations. To think of

discourse, as Wodak and Fairclough (1995) put forward, is to think of language in use in speech

or writing.

Central to Foucault’s usage is the shift away from traditional conceptions of language

and as such discourse. Beyond a linguistic conveyor of meaning, attention is given to its

function in the production of knowledge or ‘truth’. Hall (2001) opines of his usage, “What

interested him were the rules and practices that produced meaningful statements and regulated

discourse in different historical periods. By discourse Foucault meant ‘a group of statements

which provide a language for talking about - a way representing the knowledge about - a

particular topic at a particular historical moment” (Hall, 2001, p. 72).

It is within this viewpoint that Wodak and Fairclough (1997) – proponents of CDA –

conceive of discourse (language used in speech or text) as socially constitutive and socially

conditioned. As Fairclough (1995) highlights, “any text is simultaneously constitutive of 1) social

identities 2) social relations 3) systems of knowledge and beliefs. That is any text makes its own

small contribution to shaping these aspects of society and culture” (p. 55). Central to

Fairclough’s thesis is the social importance of language in reproducing social structures and

social relations, as well as its role in instantiating and capturing social change (Fairclough,

1993). As he opines, change in discourse often leads to change in social identities and social

relations (ibid).

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This foregrounding of text (discourse) in understanding and unpacking social reality

leads Wodak and Meyer (2001) to regard it as “a manifestation of social action … determined by

social structure” and “sites of struggle” that contain contending ideologies (p. 10). Central points

that emerge from these notions, and of importance to this thesis, are the importance the

contestation of the apriority and the consequent foregrounding of the social construction of

knowledge/meaning and the centralisation of text/discourse in perpetuating or transforming this

dynamic. Positioning knowledge, beliefs, identities etc. as historical, discontinuous, and

dynamic, points to their multiplicity as well as the subsequent struggle for hegemony underlined

by ever-changing power relations.

To uncover these relations, one turns to CDA. A focus on power within text/discourse (I

use them interchangeably hereon) differentiates CDA from other forms of discourse analysis

and my subsequent usage. Wodak and Meyer (2009) note of CDA, emerging from (and as such

quite similar to) critical theory, that there is a strong focus on the centralization of power in social

life. In view of this centralization, Van Leeuwen (1993) notes that there should be a dual focus

on discourse as 1) a vehicle for social construction of reality 2) as well as an instrument of

power when using CDA (p. 193). As a methodology, CDA concerns itself with unpacking power

relations embedded within texts.

It should be pointed out here that a rather problematic emphasis (or a privileging) is

often given to text. Within a rapidly growing technology-mediated society, discourse is often

conceived as two separate semiotic modes – the textual and the visual/auditory/other (Kress

2011). Yet, this differentiation is not how we experience communicative acts. Proponents of

CMDA contend that a singular focus on language within discourse analysis is a focus on just

one of the many ways meaning is socially constructed (Kress, 2011). This differentiation in

analysis equally hinders an analysis of the affordances that come from different semiotic

resources. As such this thesis in line with Kress (2011), this thesis opens up the category of

text/textual threads to the multimodal - gesture and image (still or moving).

There are a number of ways of carrying out CDA (see Wodak, 2015; Van Djick, 1993).

However, this paper predominantly draws from Fairclough (1995; 2006). My focus on MM’s

engendered social relations, subjectivities and power dynamic make him an ideal choice. In

reference to Halliday’s metafunction (1994), Fairclough places an emphasis on the social

construction of selves as well as of power between participants (the interpersonal) and of reality

36

(the ideational) occurring within text. He notes that a deconstruction of discourse reveals the

ways in which “selves associated with specific domains and institutions are redefined and

reconstituted” (Fairclough, 2006, p. 137), as well as its role in “constituting, reproducing,

challenging and reconstructing systems of knowledge and belief” (p. 169).

This thesis draws from Fairclough’s (1995) 3-part analytic model to deconstruct the

discursive practice of miracle-marketing. This model places an emphasis on the interrelated

processes and dimensions of discourse (Janks, 1997). The 3-part process includes: text

analysis, production analysis and social analysis (Fairclough, 1995). Or more aptly described by

Janks (1997) as description (of text), interpretation (of process) and analysis (within the broader

social context) (p. 329). The objective of the 3-part model is to understand text as it manifests

within a discursive practice that operates within a specific socio-political context. Chapter two of

this thesis has served to contextualize the socio-political context in which Miracle-marketing

occurs. What follows in chapter four is a description and interpretation of three miracle sessions

that operate within the Nigerian socio-political context and discussion on its relevance to this

socio-political context. My analysis of the text is supplemented by the works Fowler et al. (1979)

and Kress & van Leeuwen (2005).

As mentioned above, my research is concerned with exploring the social and power

relations (with reference to the pastor) embedded in the discourse of MM and gaining a more

nuanced understanding discourses and subjectivities that are legitimated and those that are

discredited in the process. To achieve this, I have utilized these research questions.

1. How are Pentecostal pastors constructed and enacted within Miracle-marketing?

2. What forms of power and social relations are engendered?

3. What discourses/ways of knowing and subjectivities are privileged, transformed,

contested, or ignored?

The case study of this thesis is TB Joshua – a famous and influential Nigerian pastor.

For a complete biography kindly see chapter one. I have chosen TB Joshua as a case study

because he remains central in the consciousness of Nigerians (and Africans as well) as a

preferable and dependable source of help. From the Chibok girls to Ebola scandal, Nigerians

continue to turn to him instead of state institutions. Their choice highlights the perceived

powerlessness of public institutions and the powerfulness of TB Joshua, grounded in his

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miracles. TB Joshua’s media coverage centers his continued influence on Nigerian and African

politics. And despite being ostracized by official Christian bodies in Nigeria he has and

continues to grow a strong community of believers in Nigeria as well as beyond its borders.

It is important to point out here that the view that highlights Pentecostal pastors as a

source of power is not limited to the Pentecostal practice in Nigeria. The emergence of alphas

or Islam clerics in Nigeria, who perform practices which are arguably similar to the miracle, is

worthy of note and future research. In the end, one acknowledges that there is a national public

sphere where these communities ultimately intermix and possibly borrow from each other.

I selected three videos to deconstruct from the channel Emmanuel TV on YouTube.

Emmanuel TV is the second most-viewed and fourth most-subscribed Nigerian channel on

YouTube (Social Blade, n.d). The channel has published 1,468 videos in its six years of its

existence (Emmanuel TV, n.d). Videos are published frequently - everyday in the past year, with

Church services livestreamed on Sundays. The channel also publishes biblical messages

preached by TB Joshua and other pastors affiliated with the church. However, the most viewed

videos are the miracle sessions. The top 50 most-viewed videos, as compiled by Social Blade, a

social media analytics website, are all miracle sessions (Social Blade, n.d). The miracles range

from health and marriage concerns to poverty alleviation and even Facebook addiction (ibid).

Sometimes the published videos reflect the socio-political tensions faced by the country. In

February 2017, the church released a video calling for prayers for the then sick president,

Mohammed Buhari. The video also prophesied about a forthcoming food scarcity and

devaluation of money. It called for the church to remain calm as all would be well. This prophesy

possibly reflects the falling Nigerian GDP, with a per capita that dropped from $3,222.694 in

2014 to $1,968.56 in 2017 and the anxiety around it (World Bank, n.d). The published videos

have also reflected the tensions faced by the church. In July 2019, TB Joshua was briefly in the

news for allegedly sexually harassing a female congregant. SCOAN responded with claims and

a video of a woman confessing to the wrongful accusation and asking for forgiveness (Iranzi,

2019). On the 8th of August 2019, a miracle session was broadcast of a woman, ‘an agent of

darkness’, seeking deliverance after she confessed that she was sent to seduce TB Joshua and

had failed. This is not the first time that a video would reflect the social tensions faced by the

church. A video broadcast in 2015, saw an alleged pastor from the national Pentecostal

Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) – a body that distanced itself from TB Joshua, come to SCOAN to

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publicly ask for forgiveness for spreading lies about TB Joshua at the behest of the

organization. However, these videos are few and far in between. The most-viewed and

regularly-published videos place an emphasis on the daily concerns of the general population.

My selection criteria for the three videos were 1) the presence of TB Joshua 2) it was

shot in Nigeria and 3) it featured a miracle. From these criteria, I selected videos that were

among the most viewed. This decision reflected my desire to explore videos with higher

engagement and interest. Two of the videos are on healing and the third is on poverty. I picked

the first video because of its focus on the spectacular – a naked woman with peeling flesh - and

my interest to explore the controversial purpose of the spectacular within miracle-marketing.

The second video, while on healing, had a family dynamic that shed light on family relations

within the discourse, which is in line with my research focus on social relations. For the third

video, I was interested in the question of poverty and its representation. I selected the video with

this theme that had the most views. Within the broader context of the Pentecostal health and

wealth narrative, I have deconstructed the embedded social and power relations in these videos

as well as their narratives of truth. The three videos selected span the years 2014 to 2017.

Within this timeframe, Nigeria witnessed a relatively peaceful presidential election and transition

(in 2015), which brought into power Pentecostal pastor and lawyer, Yemi Osinbajo, as Vice-

president (Mark & Smith, 2015). All images used are from the videos analysed.

The three videos are all edited by the church and follow a sequence of: introduction of

the miracle-seeker and their problem (pre-miracle), a prayer led by TB Joshua (Miracle), and

the testimony of healing and transformation (post-miracle).

This chapter presented how this research was studied and why. It started off with an

explanation of the ideological underpinnings that inform this study. This was followed by an

explanation of the thesis’ methodology. In reference to miracle-sessions’ focus on the

spectacular, this chapter has argued against narratives that might frame them as irrational and

absurd. Highlighting the ‘religion’ vs ‘occult’ debate in African studies (see Ellis & ter Haar,

2004), it explored the problems that come with essentializing categories within academic study.

The chapter drew from Asad’s usage of discursive tradition to frame its analytical use

and positioning Christianity, more specifically of Pentecostalism and its resultant practice of

Miracle Marketing. This was done to step away from functionalist definitions that center an

39

instrumentality and substantive definitions that collapse local nuances in view of a supposed

universality, hindering an analysis of religious practices/ideological expression within a particular

place and time.

As a discursive tradition, Pentecostalism is framed as a tradition of discourse that

addresses itself to conceptions of the Christian past and future, with reference to a particular

Christian practise in a specific socio-political and economic present (Asad, 2009, p.20). Asad’s

postulation centering on the dynamism of the present and a broader historicity importantly

restores rationality to religious subjects. As the chapter points out, Asad’s conceptualization,

leans on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse. Positioning knowledge, beliefs, identities

etc. as historical, discontinuous, and dynamic, it points to their multiplicity as well as the

subsequent struggle for hegemony underlined by ever-changing power relations.

Conceptualizing the miracle as a discursive practice that embeds these changing power

and social relations, the chapter turned to Critical Discourse Analysis to deconstruct the miracle

sessions. The following sections of the chapter outline the reasons for choosing Critical

Discourse Analysis, as well as how this was carried out.

40

Chapter 4. Analysis and discussion

4.1 The invention of Bose

Video

Title1

Date

Posted

Date

Accessed

Views Comments Likes &

Dislikes

Watch instant healing!!!

10 Oct 2014

7 July 2019

3,014,593 views

3,569 12k

2.1k

Table 1: Engagement information for the first video

The video starts with an image warning of the ensuing graphic content. The texts voiced

over by a narrator. We are then introduced to a woman in need of healing. She wears a dirty

skirt and nothing on top. Her nudity is pixelated. She sits, her back to the blue tiled wall, holding

a sign stating the disease - body poisoning, name- Bose Stephens, age – 25 years old, and

where she is from – Kogi State. All images are taken from the video.

Figure 1: Bose's cardboard taken from the video Watch instant healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 0:14 and its spatial representation

1 The video (Watch instant healing!!!) was retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7a5P1V8cHA&t=12s

41

Pausing to reflect on the signage introduced to us 14 seconds in, a few things are

noticeable. First off, is the template form of the sign Mrs. Bose uses, with a title and subject

lines for name, age and state. One assumes that this template was given to Mrs. Bose by the

church. As such, it serves as her introduction by the Church to the Pastor and wider audience.

The centrality of the disease (determined by the space allocated to it on the sign) is fixed by this

template. The disease or illness is also written in red – a symbolic colour with high emotive

value, one that is associated with “salience and foregrounding” or alarm (Kress, 2002, p. 357).

This foregrounding of Body poisoning over Bose Stephens is echoed and compounded

by the nominalization of her state of being sick/or being poisoned. This is specifically centered in

the introduction. The viewers are not told that Bose is sick, nor are we told that she was

poisoned. Instead, this is how we are introduced to her by a female narrator: (notice, also, Bose

remains nameless until sentence 16, occurring about two thirds into the introduction)

1 This woman has come to The SCOAN suffering from a cruel skin disease, which has afflicted her entire body. 2 Her skin has become so sensitive that it flakes and peels off at the slightest touch, rendering her unable to wear clothing. 3 She is a young lady, at only 25 years old but outwardly no one would know. 4 Disfigured by the brutal affliction, the skin all over her body has been affected by this destructive skin disease. 5 Even her lips have become bright red, being raw and blistered by the debilitating ailment. 6 The skin looks as if it is slowly melting. 7 How can she talk, eat or have any form of normality in her life? 8 Just imagine the torment, agony and pain. 9 Let alone the shame and embarrassment such an ailment would bring. 10 The skin has become like scales, cracked and broken up into pieces, which then become dry, and either flake or peel off. 11 It is a gruesome sight and difficult to behold. 12 As we continue to watch, we clearly see that no place has been left untouched by this ruthless and aggressive skin disease. 13 She is living a life of constant, unending pain. 14 Viewers, for a moment put yourself in her position and imagine what life would be like in such a condition. 15 It is beyond what mere words can adequately describe. 16 Mrs Bose Stephen has come to The SCOAN, knowing that her case has gone beyond the power of nature. 17 Her sickness has gone beyond medical explanation and treatment. 18 It has become a curse and therefore requires divine intervention. 19 Who else can remove the curse but God. 20 Who else can justly do it. 21 It is none other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 22 By His death on the cross, Jesus broke the curse of sin and death that we deserve. 23 He purchased healing for us at the price of great suffering. 24 It is Christ's victory that gives us victory. 25 And it is a product of this victory that Mrs Stephen has come to The SCOAN to receive.

More information is given by Bose’s sister, Maria, in an ensuing interview.

26 Maria: My name is Maria Ibukun. 27 Church Interviewer (CI): And the sister sitting beside you, who is she to you?

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28 Maria: (She) Is my sister (from) the same mother and father. 29 CI: Tell us her name and her age. 30 Maria: Mrs Bose Stephen, 25 years old. 31 CI: And she is your biological sister? 32 Maria: Yes. 33 CI: Can you tell us, what the problem is that brought her to The Synagogue Church of All Nations today? 34Maria: Body poison. 35Maria: She cannot eat, she cannot sit down, she cannot even stand, she no fee sleep, she no fee talk. 36CI: You said she no fee talk because of this problem of body poison? 37Maria: Yes.

Nominalization, Fowler et al. explains (1979), “is a transformation which reduces a whole

clause to its nucleus, the verb, and turns that into a noun” (p. 39). The implications of this

transformation, Fairclough (2006) explains, is an entification of a local/temporary condition “into

an inherent state” (p. 183). In her introduction, viewers are told of a cruel skin disease and a

brutal affliction, among other things. However, absent from the narrative is any information on

the process (action) of how she was poisoned or for how long. In Fairclough’s (2006) example,

entification of a state is used for its commodification. In this case, however, we note its usage in

the presentation and re-subjectification of Bose (the sick) in the miracle discourse. The table

below shows an example. Refer to appendix D for full table.

1 cruel skin disease

(Narrator-Introduction)

This woman has come to The SCOAN suffering from a cruel skin disease, which has afflicted her entire body

2 brutal affliction, destructive skin disease

(Narrator-Introduction)

Disfigured by the brutal affliction, the skin all over her body has been affected by this destructive skin disease.

Table 2: Entifying Bose's Poisoning

An implication tied to nominalization, is its deletion or in this case decentering of the

personal participants. As Fowler et al. (1979) note, due to nominalization, “The personal

participants, the ‘someones’ whoever they may be, are deleted as the clause turns into noun”

(p. 41). In this particular case, we witness a decentering of Bose or a reduction of her

43

personhood to her body – the domain of the disease. She is rendered passive by the significant

focus on her disease – at least 10 sentences in the introduction directly refer to her sickness or

its physical manifestation. And by a lack of a textual representation as someone with agency,

who takes actions (acts) or any other social roles or social status (a mother, a manager, the

daughter of a storeowner’s family, someone with postsecondary education etc.). While one

acknowledges the loss of her physical agency resulting from the disease, there is also a textual

representation of her as an object that is acted upon or that is observed.

Consider the following sentences, for example:

4 Disfigured by the brutal affliction // the skin all over her body (Object) has been affected (Process) by this destructive skin disease (Agent). 12 As we continue to watch // we (Senser) clearly see (Process) that no place has been left untouched by this ruthless and aggressive skin disease (phenomenon).

And compare it with the following:

16 Mrs Bose Stephen (Agent) has come (Process) to The SCOAN (Circumstance), knowing that her case has gone beyond the power of nature. 38 Maria: We (Agent) go (Process) hospital (Circumstance). Na hospital we dey since

The choice of wording – “the skin all over her body has been affected by this destructive

skin disease” as opposed to the destructive skin disease has affected the skin all over her body,

is identified by Fowler et al. (1979) as a passive transformation. As they argue, such a

transformation might give an illusion of agency to the participant, but it centers what the text is

really about (p. 209). In discussion of the disease, Bose loses her agency but gains it in relation

to her choice to seek healing.

This objectification of her illness reveals the social construction of a specific ideology

within this discourse. More is revealed about this construction by focusing on the

modifiers/classifications, metaphors and other discourses draw on. Consider, once more, the

adjectives used in the description of the disease. (See table below).

44

Of classifications, Fowler et al. (1979), argue that the use of “prenominal modification

tends to indicate classification rather than evaluation” (p. 212). Consider, the modifiers used

‘cruel’, ‘aggressive’, ‘brutal’ - these are modifiers used in the description of people. As such, one

might argue that through the use of nominalization and classification, Bose’s disease is

objectified and personified. It gains agency and acts upon her. To regain her agency, Bose has

come to the church. Interestingly enough, the disease loses its classification post-miracle,

referred to simply as body poison.

The sickness as evil personified is further reflected in the metaphor of sickness as curse

– again, only showing up before the miracle takes place.

18 It has become a curse and therefore requires divine intervention.

The use of the metaphor within this situation reveals the social motivation attached to

the construction of sickness and un-sickness within discourse (Fairclough, 2006). In doing so, it

directly challenges the discourses of science and medicine. Consider the sentences below and

notice that they don’t deny the validity of these discourses but reconfigure them as alternatives

– albeit futile alternatives in Bose’s case.

Narration

16 Mrs Bose Stephen has come to The SCOAN, knowing that her case has gone beyond the power of nature. 17 Her sickness has gone beyond medical explanation and treatment.

Interview

38 Maria: We go (went to) hospital. Na hospital we dey since 39 Maria: I believe that God will do a miracle for (in) her life today to heal her.

Disease Bose

1 cruel skin disease, 2 brutal affliction, destructive skin disease, 5 debilitating ailment, 12 aggressive skin disease, 18 curse

3 Young lady

Table 3: Classification of the disease

45

40 CI: We pray with you that (Jesus), God Almighty, go (will) set her free today, in Jesus' name. 41 Maria: Amin o (Amen).

Borrowing from traditional ontologies of power, discussed in Chapter 1 (e.g. to be sick is

to have less power), and leaning on the Christian discourse of messianic redemption, this

discourse constructs and relays a hierarchy of power. Pre-miracle, Bose is discursively

constructed in a way that collapses any nuance or complexity we might give to her personhood.

4.1.1 TB Joshua and the Miracle

The video starts with Mrs. Bose sitting down partially naked. Save a green skirt, she

wears nothing else. Onlookers surround her as a voice over introduces her to the viewer. From

the soothing female narrator, we learn that Mrs. Bose has come to the Synagogue Church of All

Nations (SCOAN) to be delivered from a disease, ‘body poison’. The camera zooms across her

pixelated nakedness to reveal her peeling skin, a result of the disease. A few minutes after this,

pastor TB Joshua prays for her and leaves. Mrs. Bose gets up, runs and then throws up - the

camera documenting her every action. This is a miracle session, one of many, uploaded and

shared by SCOAN’s official channel, Emmanuel TV. A peculiar feature about this video, in

comparison to the other videos, is the infrequent appearance of TB Joshua. If a distinct

characterization of Bose, pre-miracle, is her silence, for TB Joshua it is his absence. Save a 30

second appearance during the miracle, occurring four minutes into the video, and a replay of

this towards the end of the video, TB Joshua is absent. Viewers witness him leave the scenario

just as Bose rises and runs – fully healed. However, and quite importantly, he is present and

active in the discourse (i.e. through the testimony of others). Consider the examples in the table

below. Please refer to appendix E for full table.

46

Two things emerge from these sentences and the broader narrative post-miracle. We

see Bose reclaim some form of agency. Physically, we see her running and talking, actions that

translate to a change in the discourse of passivity. As she says herself and as is spoken of by

the narrator and her husband, she can talk, she can wear clothes, among other things. As

mentioned previously, the disease loses its classifications, simply referred to as body poisoning

– which highlights its continued nominalization. But we note, it is also referred to for the first time

as an action.

73 They poisoned my wife. 74 Ee cannot eat, ee cannot talk, ee fee hot. 75 And now ee can talk. after the man of God might have prayed for her.

Post-miracle Bose is juxtaposed against pre-miracle Bose. Borrowing the before and

after style associated with the discourse of dieting and extreme transformation in popular

women’s magazine and television shows.

Comment Form of reference Source

And it is a product of this victory that Mrs Stephen has come to The SCOAN to receive

Indirect Church – Owner

Narrator

I can talk, before I can’t talk, when the man of God prayed for me, I can talk

Direct Bose

My body was hot but before but now but when the man of God prayed for me, my body no hot again After the man of God prayed for her, she vomited all the poison

Direct Bose

They poisoned my wife. Ee cannot eat, ee cannot talk, ee fee hot and now ee can talk after the man of God might have prayed for her My wife was poisoned. She could not eat, talk and felt hot but now, she can talk. After the man of God prayed for her, she vomited all the poison.

Direct Stephen (Husband)

Table 4: TB Joshua references made in his absence

47

Figure 2: An example of a comparison shot taken from the video Watch instant healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 7:28

It is possible that the absence yet significant presence of TB Joshua, compounded by

the title – Instant healing- serves to construct a narrative of power that positions TB

Joshua/miracle as comically stronger than sickness.

48

4.1.2 Relations of Power: The Church, The viewer, and Bose

The anatomy of a miracle

Participants

Miracle

session

Pre-Miracle Narrator, Interviewer, Bose

(doesn’t speak), Maria

Miracle and

Post-Miracle

TB Joshua, Commentator,

Bose, Stephen, Family

(doesn’t speak)

Audience, church workers

Testimony

Time

Pastor Harry, Bose, Foreign

pastor audience

Table 5: Breakdown of Miracle session in the first video

One thing one observes over the course of this video, is the multiple genres and styles

(Narration, interview, commentary) it includes. That the video begins with an unnamed narrator

and is comprised of diverse genres is worth analyzing. Fairclough (2006) points our attention to

the importance and effect of genre and styles on the construction of discourse, noting that

“genres correspond closely to types of social practices” (p. 125). As such, a focus reveals the

mediation and perpetuation of social relations embedded in language use (Fairclough, 2006).

Bose’s introduction is conducted by a female narrator, whose soothing voice over is

accompanied by soft background music. She also closes the miracle session before it

transitions to Bose’s testimony among the Western pastors. One notices the narrator’s absence

from the miracle session. She does not speak on behalf of herself, whoever she maybe, but on

behalf of the church - the same thing occurs with the interviewer (whose arm we see) and

commentator (possibly the same interviewer, who we do not see). The interviewer and

commentator are both male. One also notices the different variations of English used among

participants. The narrator speaks with the British accent and has good diction, the

commentator/interviewer uses good diction without the accent, and Bose and her family mainly

49

use pidgin. “Different social strata and groups have different varieties of language available to

them”, Fowler et al. (1979, p. i) argue. As such, one takes cognisance of these, as indications of

a class (socio-economic) distinction between them.

I take note of this to highlight a possible privileging when determining who speaks on

behalf of the church, an action which reveals the continued influence of colonization in Nigeria

and how people continue to privilege the British. This is further exemplified when Bose, post-

miracle, is paraded in a room full of white foreign pastors.

While we do hear Bose and her family speak, the inclusion of these genres ensure that

control of this discourse is primarily dominated by representatives of the Church, despite the

pastor’s absence. The voice-over and commentary are largely descriptive in nature. However,

there are rhetoric similarities to the narrative genre worth pointing out. Of narration, Souto-

Manning (2012) observes its rhetorical strategy in delivering information. In the absence of

dialogue and a two-way communication, she argues that it becomes harder to disagree with the

narrator. She explicates, narratives stir our emotion and give the impression of being apolitical.

By naturalizing the narrative, Hodge and Kress (1988) argue it also makes it harder to challenge

the embedded ideology.

As such, we interpret their words to be a factual representation of what we are seeing,

potentially disregarding what is not being said directly. The rhetoric mode used is descriptive,

displaying a familiarity with and of Bose, her condition and the process to transformation. Their

use of present tense either in describing Bose’s condition or the miracle has the discursive

implication of signifying certainty and unquestionableness.

Consider the following examples

13 She is living a life of constant, unending pain. (Narrator) 51 This is the power of God (Commentator) 55 The external one is the one you can see. 56 But the internal one – that is the one Jesus removed in your presence. (Commentator)

In these examples, the tenor shifts between informal and formal, with a focus on building

solidarity. The narrator, for example, uses the more informal pronoun ‘we’ to preface the action

of watching.

12 As we continue to watch, we clearly see that no place has been left untouched by this ruthless and aggressive skin disease.

50

This has the discursive implication of drawing us in and makes our viewing of Bose a

shared activity. Her usage stands in contrast with the more formal ‘us’ used by Pastor Harry

(foreign Western pastor) in reference to the viewers, which creates a social distance (Us- the

pastors and Them-the viewers). This distance is further compounded by their foreignness

(largely white) in Nigeria.

90 Let us welcome our brothers and sisters who are watching this programme right now on television, with a big clap offering. 91 Let’s give Jesus a big clap offering.

Fowler et al. (1979), note of the usage of we, “(the) inclusive we, implicates addressee in

the content of the discourse and is therefore more intimate and solidary” (p. 202). However, they

caution that such as use might not always be “wholly sincere” (ibid). I note this in relation to the

power dynamic that is further constructed between the viewer and the church, as well as within

the church.

In other places, the narrator and commentator address us directly in a more informal

manner – imploring us to consider Bose’s sufferings and witness the miracle take place. Our

attention is drawn to what they point out and we are given the words/language to interpret what

we are seeing.

Consider the following for example and, once again, notice the use of the present tense.

6 The skin looks as if it is slowly melting.7 How can she talk, eat or have any form of normality in her life? 10 The skin has become like scales, cracked and broken up into pieces, which then become dry, and either flake or peel off. 11 It is a gruesome sight and difficult to behold. 14 Viewers, for a moment put yourself in her position and imagine what life would be like in such a condition (Narrator) 50 Look at the screen of the television! 49 This is the substance of the poison. 51This is the power of God. 52Look at her right now. 53 Walking confidently and now she can be touched but before now no one could touch her. 54 Look at what is coming out of the woman! 55 You don’t need to be told that this woman cannot sleep, cannot do anything on her own but right now, you can see the power of God Almighty has set her free. (Commentator)

However, they have different usage of ‘you’ and its variations – a pronoun typically used

to demonstrate consciousness and care of the person spoken to (Fowler et al., 1979, p.203).

The commentator uses the pronoun more than the narrator. However, one notices the context

and his broader use of imperatives/speech acts of command (e.g. Look at…) which are

discursive significations of power. On imperatives that delete the commander (e.g. ‘I order you

51

to look at X’ to ‘Look at X’) Fowler et al. (1979) contend that “the commander declines to state

that he has authority over the commanded…but forces the addressee to acknowledge for

himself”(p. 30). In contrast the narrator’s use of the modal auxiliary ‘would’ is not as forceful and

indicates a different set of power relations. This is particularly obvious if you compare their

overall usage of the simple present tense, with the narrator favouring the less direct present

perfect. We do not share equal power relations and neither do they.

The viewers relationship with Bose and her family changes over the course of the video.

The first time we hear from someone, other than the church, speak about Bose, it is from her

sister, Maria. In the brief interview, the interviewer largely controls the interaction and topic. The

sharp cut between Maria’s answers reveals that parts have been edited out. This control over

interaction, on one hand achieved by the interviewer’s direction of the top ic and the editing

reveals the enactment of social relations occurring between Maria and the church (Fairclough,

2006).

Once more, we are confronted with the church’s control over this discourse by the

interview format but more so the choice to include or exclude what is presented. This focus on

editing leads me to a focus on the visual representation, as the distance between the viewer

and Mrs. Bose is further highlighted throughout the video. In their seminal work on visual

images, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2005) note the effect camera shots have on creating social

distance between the viewer and participant. They highlight the effect shots have on amplifying

or reducing social distance. In reference to the works of Hall (1964) and Ringbom (1965), they

posit that close up shots emanating from devotional pictures in the Renaissance era serve to

provide a nearness. As such, it serves to create imaginary relations of intimacy or closeness

between the viewers and the participant (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2005).

The introduction of Bose is carried out visually by a sequence of close up and extreme

close up shots. The first full medium shot is used at 2:57 minutes into the video where we are

introduced to her sister. While could be argued that these sequences serve to create a

closeness between the viewer and Bose, the nature of the shots depict a different picture.

52

Figure 3: Examples of close up shots of Bose pre-miracle taken from the video Watch instant healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 1:29 – 2:42

Focusing on her chapped lips and skin, zooming over her nudity the shots seem to

further dehumanize her. This objectification occurs alongside the nominalization of the

poisoning, previously addressed. This is compounded by the gaze we are presented, as I

explain below

Utilizing photos for their analysis, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2005) address the difference

created when a participant in a video or film looks directly at the viewer or looks away from the

camera. A direct gaze relates to a direct address, which demands something from the viewer or

creates a pseudo-social bond. This is they refer to as Demand (p. 118). On the other hand,

looking away from the camera transforms the participant from the subject of the look to its

object, changing the dynamic between the viewer and the participant. This they refer to as Offer

(p.119). Unlike pictures, videos do not have a static Image Gaze. Rather, featuring a Dynamic

Image gaze, means that the relationship between the participant and the viewer doesn’t remain

static but changes.

For the most part, despite the extreme close up and close up shots used, Bose does not

meet the gaze of the camera. Within these Offer shots, she becomes the object of our gaze.

She is impersonal and separate from us amplifying the social distance between us. As Kress

and van Leeuwen (2005) note of these representations, “it ‘offers’ the represented participants

53

to the viewer as items of information, objects of contemplation, impersonally, as though they

were specimens in a display case” (p.119).

The first and only Demand shot of Bose, pre-healing, occurs a little over minute into the

video. It lasts for two seconds before she lowers her gaze. We become the object of her gaze

and we very briefly enter in an “imaginary relation” ( Kress & van Leeuwen, 2005, p. 118),

sharing an affinity of sadness with her.

However, contrast her gaze here with another demand shot after the healing (below),

where she meets our gaze differently. In the picture below, there is an interesting contrast that

highlights the objectification of Bose through the Offer shot (pre-healing) and her subjectification

through the Demand shot post-healing, where she meets our gaze quite boldly. I center this

point to further buttress the social distance between the viewers and Bose (pre-healing) and

Bose (post-healing), an important point to consider in unpacking the social construction of the

sick (as a subjectivity) within the discourse of miracle-session.

Figure 4 An example of an Offer and Demand shot taken from the video Watch instant healing!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2014) at 7:28

Post-healing, we still get a mixture but there are more long shots, we see her running

and at the end we see her give her testimony. Long shots, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2005) note

54

serves to create distance. However, in this context I argue that it gives Bose back her sociality –

as for the first time we see her in the midst of other people, being touched and interacted with.

4.2 Mrs. Kingsley delivers a boy: The Medical discourse Vs. the Miracle

Video Title2

Date Posted

Date accessed

Views Comments Likes & Dislikes

Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!!

5 May 2017

7 July 2019

4,795,316 views

1,535 13k 4k

Table 6: Engagement information for the second video

The second video is miracle bestowed on Mrs. Kingsley whose baby is in danger by the

position it is in. Mrs., Kingsley and her husband respond to TB Joshua’s prophecy about a

woman suffering from this condition. TB Joshua prays for her and the camera captures the baby

repositioning. After refusing the surgery advised by her doctor, Mrs. Kingsley delivers a baby

safely and returns to the church and testifies.

What I find striking about this video is its centering of discursive struggle, which was

somewhat more implicit in the first video. Consider its description, which reads:

This clip DEFIES natural laws and human comprehension. An unborn baby in the womb responds to prayer and physically turns - an event remarkably captured on camera. If you don't believe in miracles, watch this!

Also note its title

Impossible: Baby Turns in Womb as Pastor Prays!!!

It might be helpful to point out here that I use the word ‘discourse’ in reference to

Fairclough (2006). Discourse is a better analytic term than the more traditional terms ‘subject-

matter’ or ‘ideational meaning’ (p. 128) because it highlights the “constructions or significations

of some domain of social practice from a particular perspective” (Fairclough, 1995, 94). What

2 The video (Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!!) was retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fujz2TGKZeY&t=549s

55

this view achieves is a centering of sociality in the construction of reality, as well as distancing

from a narrative of naturalness. With that said, the description of the video highlights a social

struggle between the discourse of the miracle and that of scientific rationality. In its description,

capitalization occurs during its ‘defiance’ of the other discourses.

The word ‘defy’ is not semantically a negation, but it serves the same discursive purpose

Fairclough (2006) highlights of negations, which is to intertextually incorporate “other texts only

in order to contest and reject them” (p. 122). Why this centralization? It might be related to the

form of the miracle – saving a baby from death by repositioning, which is less obvious than skin

disease.

We further see this discursive contestation occur in TB Joshua’s speech as the miracle

unfolds. Unlike the first video, this miracle takes place in the church and he is present all

through the video documentation. He notes during the miracle:

33 The child is turning. 34 It is the position the baby has been coming out with. 35 Before that baby was coming out, a lot of wrestle. 36 The doctor had been wrestling, the nurse had been wrestling. 37 Before the baby came out, it had become tired and died. 38 But this time around, it has to reposition. 39 It will come out straight.

His grammatical choice of verb tense as well as particular words are of discursive

significance. We note his usage of present tense in relation to the miracle. The present tense

has the discursive implication of asserting unquestionableness and certainty (Fowler et al.,

1979). And his use of ‘will’, as Fowler et al. (1979) point out, reveals a “confident prediction” and

“assertion about an impending state” (p. 31). All which frame his discussion of the certainty of

the miracle versus the helplessness of techno-scientific medicine.

Furthermore, the metaphor ‘wrestle’ used to frame the activity of the involved

participants (Doctors, nurses and baby) has its own discursive implications. Metaphors,

Fairclough (2006) highlights are influential in structuring our knowledge and belief systems. As

such, he concludes “how a domain is metaphorized is one of the stakes within and over

discourse practices” (p. 195). The ‘wrestle’ further compounds the narrative of helplessness and

constructs the miracle as the more powerful winner.

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Consider the following sentences, which occur during and after the miracle:

(TB Joshua) 40 It's turning; before now, it was bottom. 41 But it's now turning right. It's coming out with the head. 42 When it finish(es), you can take her to the hospital.

(Mrs. Kingsley) 85 After the prophecy, we left and went back to Imo State. 86 When we got to Imo State, I went to my doctor, and my doctor said that he would book me for an operation because of the problem I had been having. 87 I said, "No", that the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua has broken the yoke and that I was not going to do any operation. I used the Anointing Wristband and prayed. 88 I told the doctor that I was not going to deliver this baby through an operation. 89 Immediately, he left me. 90 In the morning, I used the Anointing Wristband and prayed. 91 I put it on my stomach and said that as far as the man of God prophesied that my baby was not going to die, my baby is safe and secured by the hand of the Almighty God. 92 Before the doctor came, I delivered my baby so fast, without any operation 93 And this is the baby boy.

Two things of note emerge. At the conclusion of the miracle he instructs her to be taken

to the hospital. However, his use of ‘can’ over ‘must’ or ‘should’ modally reflects a distancing

from the techno-scientific medical discourse. Mrs. Kingsley does go to the hospital, but refuses

operation, and delivers safely. From the above, I believe the metaphor or wrestling is telling and

fitting as it denotes a competition with a winner and loser, or positions of first and second place.

There is no eradication of science, but it brings into existence a hierarchy that would not have

been there in its absence. The social construction of this hierarchy is evident in the video where

the techno-scientific discourse is not discarded but is subjugated to the miracle. The hegemony

of science over the explanation and control of the body is contested., as well as the discursive

practice that privileges its knowledge system and its practitioners. Subsequently, we witness a

shift and re-negotiation in the social and power-relations between the doctor and his patient -

Mrs. Kingsley, as well as the insertion of TB Joshua into the dynamic.

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4.2.1 Relations of power

I return to the topic of the body, focusing on the control over its representation in

discourse. TB Joshua begins the video as follows, describing her situation:

1 There is a woman outside there, you are pregnant. 2 Right now, you are due to deliver a baby. 3 This is almost three children that when you deliver them, when they are just a baby,

they die. 4 When they just make... - they die immediately. 5 So, you have this one now. The child is due. This is a baby boy. 6 She is outside there, under the canopy. 7 Jesus loves you.

Unlike the first video, Mrs. Kingsley is not introduced or presented as acted upon by an

abstraction or higher power. This possibly reflects lower cultural stigmatization of

stillbirth/miscarriage in comparison to more visible and outward conditions of illness like Mrs.

Bose’s disease. Despite this difference, there are notable similarities that occur in the two

videos.

The presence of TB Joshua and the continued use of multiple genres ensures that the

control of the discourse regarding Mrs. Kingsley’s condition is dominated by the church.

The anatomy of a miracle

Participants

Miracle session

Pre-Miracle and Miracle

TB Joshua, Narrator, Translators during miracle process (French and Spanish), commentator

Woman (doesn’t speak), Husband, congregation

Post-Miracle TB Joshua, Commentator,

Bose, Stephen, Family (doesn’t speak)

Audience, church workers

Testimony Time

Mr and Mrs Kingsley, TB Joshua, Congregation, church workers

Table 7: Breakdown of Miracle session (Video 2)

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Another shared commonality is the absence of their voices in video pre-miracle. The

questions ‘who can speak?’ and ‘when?’ are significations of power that are of interest to this

analysis (Fowler et al. 1979). In contrast to the previous video, TB Joshua begins this video with

the afore mentioned introductory statements. A few things are worth pointing out in his

statements. Firstly, his sentence formation erases his subject positioning. Compare the above to

‘It was told to me that…., God revealed to me etc.’. Fowler et al. (1979), rightly highlight,

“…every utterance has implicitly an ‘I’ or a ‘we’ as a source, but this is not usually present in the

surface structure” (p. 201). Deletions are thus not insignificant. As a prophecy, this deletion

arguably decenters him placing attention on what is being said. However, as truth claims it re-

centers his status of power, for “the giver of information is a knower of information, and

knowledge is the basis of power.” (p. 28).

Given the above comment, what does Mrs. Kingsley’s discursive silence reveal about

power and knowledge over her body? When she answers his prophecy, still nameless at this

point, TB Joshua does not solicit information about her condition, confirming his knowledge over

her, he instead shares a sexual joke with her husband. Her silence during this brief interaction

reveals an enactment, as well as an acknowledgment, of a particular power dynamic occurring

between them, gendered power, which I discuss below.

Interaction control, Fairclough (2006, 152) highlights, exposes the “enactment and

negotiation of social relations in social practice”. A form of such control is turn-taking (ibid).

Consider the following:

11 And in the past, she had given birth to children who had all died shortly after birth. 12 Inside the church, she moves towards the altar to meet Prophet T.B. Joshua. 13 TB J: This is your wife? 14 Mr. K: Yes, sir. 15 TB J: Well done. (Church Laughs) 16 Mr. K: Thank you. 17 TB J: The reason why I said well done is that Jesus has the solution. 18 TB J: Well done, oga 19 Mr. K: Thank you, sir. 20 TB J: Na wa o!

That TB Joshua speaks before any one of them and controls the structure of the

conversation demarcates his status among them. One also notes the respectful tone of Mr. K

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when referring to TB Joshua by calling him ‘Sir’. Interestingly, TB Joshua refers to Mr. Kingsley

as Oga – Boss or senior which might be better understood within the context of the joke. The

joke is decoded post-miracle.

109 TB J: Do you remember what I told you that day? How I made a joke... 110 Mr. K: You said, "Well done, Oga". 111 TB J: I said, "Well done, Oga". 112 Mr. K: Yes, sir. 113 TB J: What's the meaning of that? 114 Mr. K: For a job well done because the stomach was too big.

‘Oga’ within this context, could be a reflection of Mr. Kingsley’s role of husband, which is

constructed as the boss/senior person of the family. It could also have been used colloquially

between the two men depicting how masculinity is constructed and understood within the

discourse and the broader society. Mr. Kingsley’s sexual prowess thus gives him the status of

the ultimate male. This joke, which sexually objectifies Mrs. Kingsley, and her general

presentation as wife and mother, compounded by the general emphasis of her baby’s gender -

male, highlights the influence patriarchy has on the construction of gender, social, and power

relations in the miracle discourse, as well as the discourse’s role in their perpetuation.

When we hear Mrs. Kingsley speak during the miracle, one notes the following.

42 TB J: How are you feel? What is happening in your stomach? 43 Mrs. K: My baby is rotating. 44 TB J: The baby is rotating? How? How? 45 TB J: [jumps in before she answers] Because you are the one carrying baby. You know what's happening in your stomach. 46 Mrs. K: The baby is rotating, turning like this. 47 TB J: It is turning the body? 48 Mrs. K: Yes. 49 TB J: Rotating like this? 50 Mrs. K: Yes, yes, yes, yes.... 51 TB J: Any moment from now, you will feel something pushing, something will come out like a little water burst; after that, the road is open. 52 Mrs. K: Amen. Thank You, Jesus!

Once more, we witness TB Joshua control the organization of the interaction. Mrs.

Kingsley does not speak unless she is spoken to and only in response to his specific questions.

Notice also, how he controls the topic/agenda, asking the broader question “How are you

feel[ing]?” and then modifying it to a narrower scope “What is happening in your stomach?”

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before she replies. On the nature of his questions, one witnesses its similarity to what one might

call doctor-speak.

Consider his second question:

44 TB J: The baby is rotating? How? How? 45 TB J: (jumps in before she answers) Because you are the one carrying baby. You know what's happening in your stomach.

I find this part particularly striking given the scope of the larger context it appears. ‘You

know what is happening in your stomach’, he tells her. But within the context of what he already

says, it serves as a confirmation of his knowledge of her. Consider the sentences that precede

this conversation.

(TB Joshua) 22 In the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

(Narrator) 23 Stretching his right hand, the man of God prays for her in the name of Jesus Christ. 24 Immediately, there is a visible reaction in the woman, as Prophet T.B. Joshua offers prayer under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

(Commentator) 25 This is prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit right now. 26 Watch what's happening! (French and Spanish commentators start speaking) 27 Watch and see her expression! 28 You can tell something extraordinary is happening to her. 29 From the look on her face, you can see she is not comfortable. 30 Look at her stomach jumping! (Audience cheering and clapping) 31 Watch your screen, see what's happening! Her stomach is moving! 32 This is the result of the prayer offered by Prophet T.B. Joshua just moments ago.

(TB Joshua) (to church, as her belly visibly moves) 37 But this time around, it has to reposition. 38 It will come out straight. 39 It's turning; before now, it was bottom. 40 But it's now turning right. It's coming out with the head. 41 When it finish(es), you can take her to the hospital.

There is a telling difference in the language used by the commentator and TB Joshua in

reference to the miracle. The commentator says:

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29 From the look on her face, you can see she is not comfortable. 30 Look at her stomach jumping!

What is visible to us and to the commentator is the physical movement of her stomach.

That is the limit of our knowledge. However, TB Joshua mentions that the “(baby) is turning;

before now, it was bottom.” Again, we note his use of tenses. His interview with her confirms

that which he has already said. This knowledge, of what one might consider her intimate self,

mirrors the relationship of a doctor and patient. The doctor often knowing more about our bodies

than we do is a signifier of their status and power over us, which we complicity acknowledge by

heeding to their prescriptions. In her case, Mrs. Kingsley heeds to his prescriptions by rejecting

the operation and believing the miracle.

Figure 5: An example of a close-up shot taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 3:30

As this plays out one notes the camera shots that accompany it. There is a diversity of

shots from the beginning of this video that was absent in the first one. Long to medium shots are

favoured. But close up shots are also used. We notice the use of close up shots on Mrs.

Kingsley, directing our attention and gaze to the miracle as it happens before us.

The close up shot, Kress and van Leeuwen (2005) note, imitates the close personal

distance. However, they also note its usage in centering the affective response of its subjects.

We observe this particular function in the use of these shots to demonstrate and validate the

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miracle. As we observe her distress and the movement of her belly, TB Joshua informs us about

the repositioning of her baby.

It is interesting to note the change of camera shot sequence within this video. As I

mentioned above, long shots and medium shots are favoured. Shots with TB Joshua range from

long shots to medium shots, echoing the findings of Kress and van Leeuwen (2005) “distance is

used to signify respect for authorities of various kinds, on television as in face-to-face

interaction” (p. 126).

On the topic of camera shots, one notices the active audience in this video. The long

shots which frame Mrs. Kingsley show her as being part of a participating congregation. The

congregation stands during the miracle. There are a few exceptions. At 1:56, a somewhat older

man sits. His seat at the front row might indicate his status within the church. There are also

those that sit on floor before the congregation.

The congregation is shown the miracle -clapping their hands, laughing at TB Joshua’s

joke, and one even kneels to give thanks. From what the viewer is shown, TB Joshua’s authority

is not challenged or interrupted but rather legitimated by the congregation. At the conclusion of

the miracle, TB Joshua gives Mrs. Kingsley his wristband and the congregation responds with

cheers. The function of the wristband is shared post-miracle. Of this Mrs. Kingsley notes:

90 In the morning, I used the Anointing Wristband and prayed. 91 I put it on my stomach and said that as far as the man of God prophesied that my baby was not going to die, my baby is safe and secured by the hand of the Almighty God. 92 Before the doctor came, I delivered my baby so fast, without any operation 93 And this is the baby boy.

The wristband, as such, becomes a physical manifestation of TB Joshua’s power that he

shares with her. This act reveals and buttresses his status within the discourse.

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Figure 6: A camera shot showing audience engagement taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 4: 16

When Mrs. Kingsley gives her testimony, she sits before them and they sit as well. She

and her husband control their post-miracle narrative. However, an interruption by TB Joshua

during her husband’s testimony establishes a continued hierarchical? dynamic between them.

The privileging of long and medium shots created a distance between the viewer and the

miracle. This distance is compounded by the lack of demand shots that captured a direct gaze

of the participants. As such, the participants become the object of the viewers gaze – including

TB Joshua. During the miracle, Mrs. Kingsley briefly captures the gaze of the camera and our

positions are transformed. While it feels like voyeurism, the viewer within the miracle is

transformed to take the role of witness.

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Figure 7: A shot showing Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley's testimony taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 6:42

Figure 8: An example of a medium shot of TB Joshua taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 1:22

At the conclusion of the miracle, TB Joshua instructs church staff to lead Mrs. Kingsley to the toilet.

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51 Any moment from now, you will feel something pushing, something will come out like a little water burst; after that, the road is open. 52 Amen. Thank You, Jesus! 53 The thing has come down now - the water I am talking about! 54 You can see the baby stopped moving because it has finally repositioned. 55 She is free. Ok, take her to the toilet.

The camera, hence, the viewer, follows to ascertain this. And right before the camera’s

gaze she expels the liquid and shows it to the camera/viewer. So, science is used (evidence

that her water broke) but as argued above, the Miracle is constructed as dominating scientific

knowledge.

Figure 9: A close-up shot of Mrs. Kingsley’s discharge taken from the video Impossible: baby turns in womb as pastor prays!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2017) at 6:14

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4.3 Poverty as a curse, Charity as a miracle Video Title3

Date Posted

Date Accessed

Views Comments Likes & Dislikes

Try to watch this without crying!!!

24 October 2015

7 July 2019

5,065,331 views

2,312 19k 3.8k

Table 8: Engagement information for the third video

Comparing it with the former, the third video presents itself as somewhat of an anomaly.

At first glance there doesn’t seem to be a miracle. A widow is presented to the church seeking

financial help from TB Joshua. After telling her story, TB Joshua presents her with money and a

place to stay. The video is a narrative of Philomena Sunday and her family, largely told by them

interspersed by a few questions and comments asked by TB Joshua. The commentator is

absent, and the female narrator returns only at the end to reveal their new home.

The title displays similarities to the broader culture regarding Youtube reaction videos –

“try to watch this without laughing/smiling etc”, where user-generated videos are compiled and

recycled among social networks and online communities often for entertainment purposes. Such

reaction videos, Kim (2015) argues, highlights a production, consumption and circulation of

privatized self-images. This similarity might indicate an appropriation with the intention of

reaching an internet savvy demographic. The video also reveals a similar dynamic of the

production and consumption of affect via publicizing the private self.

3 The video (Try to watch this without crying!!!) was retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKIferLMfyw&t=666s

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The anatomy of a miracle

Participants

Miracle

session

N/A

Philomena and her family, TB

Joshua, Congregation

Testimony

Time

Philomena and her family, TB

Joshua, Congregation, Narrator

Table 9: Breakdown of Miracle session (Video 3)

Another prominent feature of the narrative is its emphasis on affect. Of narratives,

Souto-Manning (2012) notes, “Narrative tellings are more rhetorically powerful because they

tend to stir our emotions in a way that more expository language and texts do not” (p. 165). In

fact, this affective centering begins from the video’s title.

“Try to watch this without crying”.

The title displays similarities to the broader Youtube reaction videos culture – “try to

watch this without laughing/smiling etc”, where user generated videos are compiled and

recycled among social networks and online communities often for entertainment purposes. Such

reaction videos, Kim (2016), argues, highlights a production, consumption and circulation of

privatized self-images. This similarity might indicate an appropriation with the intention of

reaching an internet savvy demographic. However, the video also reveals a similar dynamic of

the production and consumption of affect via publicizing the private self.

Consider our introduction to Philomena:

1 My name is Philomina Sunday. 2 I am a widow. 3 I am a mother of nine children. 4 I have been suffering, begging for food to eat. Nobody will assist me. 5 I started going to dustbins to pick food to eat. 6 Even the clothes that I am wearing, I picked them from the dustbin, washed them to wear.

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7 Even for my children, I will pick clothes from the dustbin and wash them for them to wear. 8 If we don't go to the dustbin early, we will not find food to eat. 9 When we go there early, we will find food to pick there. 10 Sometimes when we go there, we will find some foods like yam, corn, bread and groundnut. 11 We will pick all of those things there. 12 Things have been very difficult for me.

And that of her daughter, Faith:

44 My Name is Abumare Faith. 45 What my mother is saying is true. 46 Because of the suffering, I saw a man that said he was going to keep me in his house. 47 I didn't know the man was suffering. 48 I have two children from him. 49 He doesn't have any work. 50 The clothes I am wearing are from the dustbin.

Figure 10: A camera shot showing Mrs. Philomena's home taken from the video Try to watch this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 6:02

During their self-introduction, we learn intimate details about the family. Their

introduction is followed by a three-minute montage of the family, barefoot, rummaging dustbins

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for food and shoes – which we see them eat and take along with them – and a montage of her

home.

The justification for this voyeuristic journey into the daily life of Philomena’s family is

given as documenting proof of her situation. She tells the church, “She (the woman who

introduced her to SCOAN) said that if I wanted the man of God to really believe that I am

suffering, I should give the man of God this cassette and he should watch it to see how I am

suffering”. The video is then shared with the church at Tb Joshua’s instruction. While we are

given a reason for the video, a number of things are not revealed, the most glaring being who is

behind the camera and how did she manage to get that person to produce the video when she

must rely on dustbins to clothe herself and her children.

What is evident to us is her performance of poverty, of which the camera is an active

partaker. The camera chooses what to frame and centralize, be it a messy room or her daughter

eating food from the dumpster, thus playing to the dominant cultural conventions of poverty and

helplessness.

Figure 11: A close up shot showing Philomena's daughter eating from the dumpster taken from the video Try to watch this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 3:37

One also notes a negotiation in this construction by virtue of the editing, revealing a

relationship that privileges the person behind the camera. However, why is the family’s poverty

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revealed to the congregation as well as the viewer? Why not just TB Joshua? – a situation

which would echo the Christin history of private confession.

On the one hand, one might deduce from the words of TB Joshua that this is an attempt

to raise awareness and build solidarity between the church and the poor. In his words:

61 All over the world. People like this - they are everywhere. 62 Please find them, help them and restore them. 63 Don't just pass by and close your eyes.

However, if the intention is to build affect; the camera shots, which favour long and

medium shots, create a social distance between the viewer and Philomena’s family (Kress and

van Leeuwen 2005). One does note, however, the strategic use of close ups and extreme close

ups to capture the tears of her family, notably those of her children.

Figure 12: An example of a close-up shot of Philomena's children’s tears taken from the video Try to watch this without crying!!! (Emmanuel TV, 2015) at 0:59

It perhaps more apt to view this as another instance of the viewer playing the role of

witness. An instance whereby her performance of poverty and eventual restoration (as we do

get a video montage of the house provided by the church) acts as evidence of the power,

status, and benevolence of TB Joshua. This scenario centers once more the negotiable power

dynamic occurring between the pastor and the viewer. The focus on restoration via the

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testimony, which often centers the private life, also reveals a renegotiation of the public and

private domain.

Peeling back Philomena’s narrative, as well as the broader video, one notices the glaring

presence and influence of patriarchy within the discourse – a reflection of the broader Nigerian

society. Consider her introduction as a widow in the first sentence, as well as the broader

narrative.

1 My name is Philomena Sunday. I am a widow. 17 My boyfriend - I was thinking that he was going to help me and my children, to send them to school. But the man disappointed me. He could not do it.

108 My husband was a very big man. 109 When I complained to him that I wanted to start a business, he asked me what type of business I wanted to start. 110 I told him that I wanted to sell cows. 111 He gave me the money to start the business. 112 We were living fine and rich. 113 When my husband had an accident and broke his ribs, 114 I was taking him to different hospitals, spending money. 115 He then told me that the money is finished 138 When my husband died, there was no money with us. 139 Since then, I have been going to the dustbin to pick food, cans and clothes. 140 I sold the cans to get money. 141 To eat once in a day was difficult. 142 That is why my daughters fell into that situation, to meet a man to help. 143 They got married and had children. 144 This is my first daughter and she has three children because of our poverty. 145 My second daughter Anthonia has a baby girl from a man. 146 The husband has a mental problem. 147 The other children are not going to school anymore.

Philomena’s story, following the dictates of patriarchy, perpetuates the narrative of

female helplessness and powerlessness in contrast to the powerful male provider. It is also

telling that the first and only time the viewer is addressed and engaged with in this video centers

the beauty of one of the young girls.

86 TB J: What a beautiful girl! Look at this one. 87 TB J: What is your name? 88 Esther: Esther. 89 TB J: Wow - look! 90 TB J: Watch your screen. 91 TB J: Look at the face!

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Within a narrative of male power negotiated and received upon marriage, this further

perpetuates the patriarchal view of beauty as a female asset worthy of note.

However, the death, mental illness and economic incapacity of the men in this tale, as

well as TB Joshua’s insistence on the termination of the marriages seemingly subverts it. “That

marriage should be immediately terminated”, he says, modally reflecting his authority in the

situation. Although, we are never told if the marriage is terminated. Reflecting on his modal use

of ‘should’ over ‘must’, I wonder if this is possibly a direct reflection of his centralization of God’s

will over his. Or if it is him giving room for the decision and power of the men in their lives.

The prioritization TB Joshua gives to their individual education and future career reflects

the normalization and pervasion of neoliberal capitalism within the broader society. This is

compounded by the metaphor he uses to describe their poverty – a curse.

57 They have to get accommodation. These children have to go to school. 58 They will go for deliverance now. 59 That poverty is not just poverty 60 but it has become a curse and Jesus can remove this curse.

This is the same metaphor used to describe the body poison. Metaphors, as discussed

previously, are influential in structuring our knowledge and belief systems (Fairclough, 2006).

Poverty as a curse – as evil, misfortune, it highlights this normalization of a capitalist order and

the discoursal privileging of the rich over the poor. But what it importantly highlights is its

spiritualization, bringing it within the domain of the miracle. This being a reflection of ontological

understandings of power and its operation. But is also points to the construction of a growing

ontological relevance of the miracle and as such the pastor – indicating an active involvement in

the health to the prosperity of their congregation. One notes this in the sentence “they will go for

deliverance now” – a deliverance out of poverty. And while the agent of the deliverance is not

mentioned, from their testimony we infer that it is TB Joshua. As such, beyond the benevolent

gifts of a house, food, and money, TB Joshua removed the curse of poverty. From this one

concludes that tradition (patriarchy in this case) may fail you but the miracle will not.

To conclude, the videos analyzed also present a peculiar picture of combined

discourses. Fairclough (2006, p. 97) takes note of how producers “combine discursive

conventions” in new innovate ways that re-articulate new orders of discourses. What is

interesting to note in this regard is the manner in which miracle-marketing leans into to diverse

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genres, styles and discourses to produce an order that is unique to itself. From the all-knowing

narrator, which serves to naturalize an event, to the commentator, who interprets what is being

observed, all these elements, as I have discussed above serve to create a new manner of

church engagement that also transforms the role of its participants.

In all three videos TB Joshua was discursively presented as an avenue and channel of

power. This was achieved by the testimony of the miracle seekers that repeatedly highlighted

him as the source of their transformation, as well as the portrayed helplessness of the miracle-

seeker. In all three videos, the camera shots - which either alienate or dehumanize, the silence

of the miracle seekers, and/or the language chosen by the people who speak over them

constructed an image of their powerlessness – and in contrast of TB Joshua’s powerfulness.

This is particularly evident in the first video, where Mrs. Bose is dehumanized and objectified

through linguistic and visual devices. Prominent, before the miracle is the use of nominalization

and classification in reference to the body poisoning. A combination with discursive implications.

Fairclough (2006) among others note of the use of nominalization in the entification of a

temporary condition into an inherent state, which shifts attention from the process to the state.

This accomplishes a decentering of Bose and her re-subjectification as the woman with

Body poisoning. Similar to the introductory image. This is compounded by her presentation of

one that is acted upon by her disease or observed by the viewer rather than one that has

agency. Tied to this point of being acted upon is the classification of the disease. Cruel,

aggressive, brutal, modifiers associated with human agency in conjunction with its

nominalization objectify and personify Bose’s disease in this discourse. As such, furthering the

narrative of her helplessness, her disease gains agency and acts upon her. To regain her

agency, Bose has come to the church. Interestingly enough, the disease loses its classification

post-miracle, referred to simply as body poison. The change after the miracle points to the

narrative of which bodies belong within the Pentecostal discourse. With its message of health

and wealth, it highlights its privileging of the rich and the healthy – creating them as the ideal

standards. The dehumanization possibly points to Pentecostalism’s narrative of total

transformation and renewal. This is also seen in the use of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ panels that

mimic total transformation in the health discourse found in health and dieting magazines and

videos.

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Evident in all three videos is the miracle discourse’s competition with other alternative

discourses. In the first and second video, Bose’s sickness and Philomena’s poverty are referred

to metaphorically as a curse. The social motivation of this metaphor is to reframe these

conditions as problems that are primarily solved by the miracle – and as such by the pastor. In

the second video, this competition is more explicit as the hegemony of science over the

explanation and control of the body is contested, as well as the discursive practice that

privileges its knowledge system and its practitioners. Subsequently, we witness a shift and re-

negotiation in the social and power-relations between the doctor and his patient - Mrs. Kingsley,

as well as the insertion of TB Joshua into the dynamic.

In all three videos, the narrative of the ineffectiveness of other institutions and traditions

are highlighted. For Bose and Mrs. Kingsley, it is the hospital and for Philomena it is the failure

of a patriarchal tradition, where men take care of women. These instances only serve to

buttress the powerfulness of the miracle – and as such the pastor in comparison to these

institutions.

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Chapter 5. Conclusion

This thesis has argued that the growing salience of Pentecostal leaders in Nigeria and

their increasing socio-political relevance, should point our attention to the social and power

relations that the discourse engenders. Providing a historical account of Pentecostalism’s

emergence in Nigeria, it highlighted the transition from its early narratives, which emphasized a

message of democratic access to power via a relationship with the divinity of the Holy Ghost

(see Asamoah-Gyadu, 2005) to its more recent reformulations, which not only emphasize new

narratives of prosperity and health but also point to a changing relationship between the pastor

and their congregant. This thesis had a specific focus on this re-formulation of power and social

relations. To achieve this, the thesis turned to the televised miracle session to show how its

discourse is instrumental to these reconfigurations, examining its emergent narratives of truth

and reality.

As such, the objective of this thesis has been to unpack how social and power relations

are constructed and enacted within the rapidly growing Nigerian Pentecostal community as

seen within miracle-sessions; and to glean a more nuanced understanding of the discourses

and subjectivities that are legitimated and those that are discredited in the process. By focusing

on televised miracle sessions and not just miracle sessions, it placed an intentional emphasis

on its mediation through television. Of concern to the thesis was the construction of an active

imagined community, made possible by the use of media technologies (Anderson, 1983).

Additionally, this focus highlighted the Nigerian media as one of the historical sites of the

struggle for political power and control, an important context that sheds light on the

transformation of Pentecostalism in Nigeria.

To frame the socio-political relevance of Pentecostalism, this thesis presented a

historical account of its political engagement and its proximity to power in the country. However,

drawing from Marshall’s argument that frames religion and politics as potentially competing

discourses, this thesis focused its attention on deconstructing the discourse of miracle-sessions.

The thesis also utilized Asad’s (2009) concept of discursive tradition to conceptualize

Pentecostalism and the emergent practice of miracle-marketing. Asad’s focus on historicity

allows one to shift attention to the mutual-shaping relationship between a religion’s

texts/practices and the current societal institutions as well as its power structures. This thesis,

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thus, conceptualized Miracle-marketing as a legitimate discursive practice of the larger Christian

religion in Nigeria. In so doing it acknowledged that it does not exist in isolation. It exists within a

history of the struggle and power that informs its use as well as the broader trajectory of the

religion in Nigeria.

TB Joshua of the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) was the selected case

study, due to his popularity and influence in Nigeria, as well as on the basis of his growing

national and international community of believers. Three videos uploaded by the church on their

YouTube platform, Emmanuel TV were chosen. The thesis then used Critical Discourse

Analysis to deconstruct three miracle sessions. It predominantly leaned on Fairclough (1993;

2006), supplemented by Fowler et al. (1979) and Kress & van Leeuwen (2005) to deconstruct

the miracle sessions. Its focus on the engendered social relations, subjectivities and power

dynamic made them an ideal choice.

5.1 Establishing hierarchies of power

I began my thesis by arguing that the question of who wields the miracle is of importance

in understating the new dynamics of power and social relations brought about by the changes in

Pentecostalism’s narrative. Miracle-sessions, which have pastors performing miracles on their

congregants, identify the pastor as an avenue and channel of power.

This viewpoint was witnessed in the videos that were deconstructed, as TB Joshua was

discursively presented as the sole avenue and channel of power. This was achieved by the

testimony of the miracle seekers that repeatedly highlighted him as the source of their

transformation (see section 4.1.1). The social construction of TB Joshua as an avenue of power

was equally achieved by the constructed powerlessness and helplessness of the miracle

seeker.

This narrative of a powerless miracle seeker reveals two things. First, it further

establishes the hierarchical relationship of dominance that occurs between the pastor and their

congregant in the new wave of Pentecostalism. Additionally, it points to a narrative of belonging

and exclusion within its discourse. In all three videos, the camera shots - which either alienate

or dehumanize, the silence of the miracle seekers, and/or the language chosen by the people

who speak over them construct an image of the powerlessness and undesirableness of the sick

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and poor. The validation of certain subjectivities/bodies over others plays into the broader

Pentecostal episteme that emphasizes health and wealth as part of the neoliberal ethos

introduced in Nigeria through the oil economy. Highlighting what Gifford (1998) refers to as a

deliverance theology, it centers a restoration from the spiritual forces that hinder the Christian

from living a full life. A realization of self, as Hackett (1993) puts forward. However, within this

construction of fullness of life one notices a replication of the societal stigmatization of the

impaired (see Yushau Armiya'u, 2015; Ewang, 2019). As such, we witness this discourse

(re)construct and perpetuate the demarcation between normal and abnormal bodies in the

broader Nigerian society.

This is particularly salient in the first video. It begins with our introduction to Mrs. Bose,

the miracle seeker, who is partially nude - save a skirt. She is suffering from what the viewer is

told to be body poison, which has resulted in blisters all over her body. Through linguistic and

visual devices and choices, there miracle session decenters Bose and instead places an

emphasis on her ailment, which serves to reconstruct an image of a helplessness woman with

Body poisoning Through the linguistic choices used, her disease is discursively constructed to

gain agency and act upon her - furthering the narrative of her helplessness and powerlessness.

The only avenue for her to regain her agency, as it is presented, is to receive the miracle

bestowed by TB Joshua (see section 4.1). This dehumanization, which occurs before the

miracle, and the eventual re-humanization, which occurs after, highlights Pentecostalism’s

narrative of renewal and transformation (see Meyer 1998). As such, it is possible that the

controversial focus on the spectacle, within miracle-sessions, is utilized to highlight the

transformative power of the miracle. This narrative of transformation is also seen in the use of

the ‘before’ and ‘after’ video panels that mimic the narrative of total transformation in the health

discourse found in popular health and dieting magazines and videos.

It is interesting to note the active role the miracle seeker plays in this construction of

helplessness. For example, we might question why Bose agrees to be naked in public. Or why

Philomena agrees to have a camera follow her as she picks through the garbage with her young

children. Or why Mrs. Kingsley agrees to have her miracle occur in front of the church. One

could argue that the three videos center a spectacle in different ways. Bose’s nude peeling flesh

warrants a warning before the video begins, Mrs. Kingsley’s water breaking is captured on

camera, and we witness Philomena feed her young daughter bread from the dustbin. On this, I

78

observe a negotiation of power between the miracle seeker and the pastor. In all three incidents

there is an agreement by the miracle seeker to perform their pain in front of an audience. In

Philomena’s case it is quite apparent. She tells TB Joshua she was asked to show him the

video as proof of her suffering. Can a similar thing be said about the other two participants?

Might this be a way to explain the centering of the spectacle within miracle-marketing? Further

studies that singularly focus on the spectacle might help answer these questions. What I take

away from this, however, is TB Joshua constructs his power over them within this negotiated

space.

5.2 Replacing old ties and structures

This thesis has argued that the videos point to an established hierarchy of power

between the pastor and their congregant. However, there are implications of this engendered

relationship that reverberate beyond the domains of the church. The videos revealed a re-

negotiation of 1) the miracle seeker’s familial and social ties and 2) the miracle seeker’s

relationship to other societal institutions and traditions. The most obvious example occurs

between Mrs. Kingsley and her doctor. From the video, we learn that Mrs. Kingsley, who is a

pregnant woman that has suffered several stillbirths in the past, is critically advised by her

doctor to get surgery to reposition her baby. This is for her and her baby’s safety. During the

miracle service, TB Joshua bestows a miracle on her and ‘fixes’ the problem. After the service,

Mrs. Kingsley returns to the hospital, refuses the operation, delivers safely, and comes back to

the church to testify. As such, in the course of the miracle, and in fact throughout the entire

video, the hegemony of science over the explanation and control of the body is contested. And

so are the discursive practices that privilege its knowledge system, its institutions, and its

practitioners – for example, the hospital, surgeons, and the practice of surgery. By disobeying

her doctor and heeding to the words of TB Joshua instead, in a context that involved her and

her baby’s life, we witness a re-negotiation in the social and power-relations between the doctor

and his patient - Mrs. Kingsley, as well as the insertion of TB Joshua into the dynamic.

This renegotiated relationship highlights Pentecostalism’s narrative of promised good

health, accessible via the instrumentalization of Christianity. But it also highlights the public

health crisis in Nigeria, where medical institutions remain understaffed and inefficient. In 2018,

Nigerian Minister of Health, Isaac Folorunso Adewole, estimated that there is only one doctor for

every 4,088 Nigerians (“Nigeria Needs Additional 155,000 Medical Doctors”, 2018). A similar

79

thing can be said about the third video, which highlights the widespread social problem of

poverty in Nigeria. Poverty is metaphorized as a curse and as such its alleviation is brought into

the domain of the spiritual and the miracle. This narrative of ‘helpless husbands’, which

challenges the patriarchal practice of husbands as the source of financial provision, has a

similar effect. As such, the inefficiency and failure of institutions might be a way of explaining the

increasing popularity and influence of Pentecostalism and its pastors in the country. Following

this narrative, future research could examine the gendered dimension of miracle-marketing,

paying attention to the construction of the female victim and male (pastor) savior.

That the miracle is constructed as an alternative to Nigeria’s weak institutions, highlights

the renegotiated socio-political role of Pentecostalism and its pastors in Nigeria. This affirms the

viewpoint that posits increasing religiosity occurring amid the withdrawal of the state (see

Villalon, 1999; Obadare, 2010). However, by replacing these structures, Pentecostalism as

Kolapo (2018) importantly argues, potentially deters institutional reformation by inhibiting the

motivations that lead to political action. The socio-political importance of Pentecostal churches

in Nigeria, stemming from miracle-sessions as well as the other services (e.g. schools and

hospitals) they provide, highlights religion’s continued role in negotiating politics and power in

Nigeria.

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Appendix A. Video 1 transcript

1 This woman has come to The SCOAN suffering from a cruel skin disease, which has afflicted her entire body.

2 Her skin has become so sensitive that it flakes and peels off at the slightest touch, rendering her unable to wear clothing.

3 She is a young lady, at only 25 years old but outwardly no one would know. 4 Disfigured by the brutal affliction, the skin all over her body has been affected by this

destructive skin disease. 5 Even her lips have become bright red, being raw and blistered by the delibitating ailment. 6 The skin looks as if it is slowly melting. 7 How can she talk, eat or have any form of normality in her life? 8 Just imagine the torment, agony and pain. 9 Let alone the shame and embarrassment such an ailment would bring. 10 The skin has become like scales, cracked and broken up into pieces, 11 which then become dry, and either flake or peel off. 12 It is a gruesome sight and difficult to behold. 13 As we continue to watch, we clearly see that no place has been left untouched by this

ruthless and aggressive skin disease. 14 She is living a life of constant, unending pain. 15 Viewers, for a moment put yourself in her position and imagine what life would be like in such

a condition. 16 It is beyond what mere words can adequately describe. 17 Mrs Bose Stephen has come to The SCOAN, knowing that her case has gone beyond the

power of nature. 18 Her sickness has gone beyond medical explanation and treatment. 19 It has become a curse and therefore requires divine intervention. 20 Who else can remove the curse but God. 21 Who else can justly do it. 22 It is none other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 23 By His death on the cross, Jesus broke the curse of sin and death that we deserve. 24 He purchased healing for us at the price of great suffering. 25 It is Christ's victory that gives us victory. 26 And it is a product of this victory that Mrs Stephen has come to The SCOAN to receive. 27 My name is Maria Ibukun. 28 The sister sitting beside you, who is she to you? 29 She is my sister from the same mother and father. 30 Tell us her name and her age. 31 Mrs Bose Stephen, 25 years old. 32 And she is your biological sister? 33 Yes. 34 Can you tell us what the problem is that brought her to The SCOAN today? 35 Body poison. 36 She cannot eat, sit down, stand, sleep or talk. 37 She does not feel like talking because of this body poison? 38 Yes. 39 We went to hospital. We have been at the hospital for a long time. 40 I believe that God will do a miracle in her life today to heal her.

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41 We pray with you that Jesus, God Almighty, will set her free today, in Jesus' name. 42 Amen. 43 In the mighty name of Jesus! In the blood of Jesus Christ! 44 Prophet T.B. Joshua Ministering Prayer in Jesus‘ Name 45 There is spiritual transformation. 46 You don’t need to be told that this woman cannot sleep, cannot do anything on her own but

right now you can see the power of God Almighty has set her free. 47 Look at her right now. Walking confidently and now she can be touched but before now no

one could touch her. 48 Look at what is coming out of the woman! 49 Look at the screen of the television! This is the substance of the poison. 50 This is the power of God. 51 This is marvellous, this is glorious, this is wonderful. 52 Vomiting Poisonous and Bloody Substances 53 In excruciating pain and burning sensation all over her. 54 She was having loss of strength, loss of appetite, along other forms of symptoms due to this

terrible problem of body poison in her life. 55 That is the internal one. 56 The external one is the one you can see. 57 But the internal one – that is the one Jesus removed in your presence. 58 Thank You, Jesus! 59 My wife is healed! I am happy now. 60 I can talk now. Before now, I could not talk. 61 After the man of God prayed for me, I can talk. 62 Praise the Lord! 63 My name is Bose Stephen. 64 The sickness I had was body poison. 65 My body used to itch. 66 After the man of God prayed for me, my body does not itch anymore. 67 I could not talk but after the man of God prayed for me, I can talk. 68 Praise the Lord! 69 My body was hot but after the man of God prayed for me, it was not hot anymore and I

vomited all this. 70 Praise the Lord! 71 I will sin no more. 72 My name is Stephen. This is my wife. 73 The problem that brought us here was body poison. 74 My wife was poisoned. 75 She could not eat, talk and felt hot but now, she can talk. 76 After the man of God prayed for her, she vomited all the poison. 77 Praise the Lord! 78 Poisonous and Bloody Substances Vomited by Mrs Bose Stephen 79 I thank God for healing me. I can talk now. 80 I am very strong now. 81 Thank You, Jesus! 82 Mrs Bose Stephen Able to Wear Clothes After the Prayer of Prophet T.B. Joshua 83 Hallelujah! 84 Immediately after the prayer of Prophet T.B. Joshua in Jesus Christ’ name, 85 Mrs Bose Stephen was able to wear her clothing.

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86 Evidence of the miraculous transformation that has occurred in her life. 87 Mrs Bose Stephen Able to Wear Clothes After the Prayer of Prophet T.B. Joshua 88 Before and After 89 Yeah! 90 I am healed! 91 I am saved! 92 I am redeemed! 93 Born again! 94 Hallelujah! 95 I am saved, in Jesus' name! 96 Hallelujah! 97 I am redeemed, in Jesus' name! 98 Hallelujah! 99 In Jesus' name, demons flee! 100 In the name of Jesus, I have been set free! 101 In Jesus' name, I have been saved! 102 In Jesus' name, I have been delivered! 103 Glory glory! 104 Hallelujah! 105 Glory glory! 106 Hallelujah! 107 My name is Bose Stephen. 108 The resurrection power of God has flowed into her body and washed away all the

sickness and disease. All glory be to God! 109 Mrs Bose Stephen Testifying Amidst Visitors to The SCOAN 110 This is Pastor Harry from Rotterdam Christian Life Centre and Emmanuel Television. 111 I am here on this occasion in The SCOAN, Lagos, Nigeria. 112 All around me, I am surrounded by people from all over this globe. 113 We have people here from Australia, South Africa, United States, Canada, 114 Germany, Switzerland, Austria, from all over the globe and last but not least 115 we also have people here from the Netherlands. 116 Let us welcome our brothers and sisters who are watching this programme right now on

television, with a big clap offering. Let’s give Jesus a big clap offering. 117 Hallelujah! 118 My name is Bose Stephen. 119 What brought me here was body poison. 120 For so many years, we had gone to hospitals, native doctors and many places but I

couldn’t get cured. 121 But when I came to The SCOAN and the man of God stretched his hand towards me, I

received strength. 122 I started running! After running, when I stood, I vomited all the poison. 123 After some time, I felt so cold inside me. 124 Before and After 125 Then, I could not even talk or eat but when the man of God 126 stretched his hand towards me, I started eating. 127 Hallelujah!

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Appendix B. Video 2 transcript

1 TB: There is a woman outside there, you are pregnant. 2 Right now, you are due to deliver a baby. 3 This is almost three children that when you deliver them, 4 when they are just a baby, they die. 5 When they just make... - they die immediately. 6 So, you have this one now. The child is due. This is a baby boy. 7 She is outside there, under the canopy. 8 Jesus loves you. 9 Here we can see the woman the prophecy concerned coming forward from under the

canopies at the overflow congregation. 10 Just as the man of God had prophesied, the woman was sitting outside the auditorium

under the canopies and was pregnant. 11 She makes her way up the stairs, heading inside the main auditorium of the church to

honour and confirm the word of prophecy, that there was a woman pregnant with a baby boy outside the church, her delivery was due.

12 And in the past, she had given birth to children who had all died shortly after birth. 13 Inside the church, she moves towards the altar to meet Prophet T.B. Joshua. 14 This is your wife? 15 Yes, sir. 16 Well done. 17 Thank you. 18 The reason why I said well done is that Jesus has the solution. 19 Well done, oga 20 Thank you, sir. 21 Na wa o! 21 22 In the mighty name of Jesus Christ! 23 Stretching his right hand, the man of God prays for her in the name of Jesus Christ. 24 Immediately, there is a visible reaction in the woman, as Prophet T.B. Joshua offers

prayer under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 25 This is prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit right now. 26 Watch what's happening! (other languages) 27 Watch and see her expression! 28 You can tell something extraordinary is happening to her. 29 From the look on her face, you can see she is not comfortable. 30 Look at her stomach jumping! (Audience cheering and clapping) 31 Watch your screen, see what's happening! Her stomach is moving! 32 This is the result of the prayer offered by Prophet T.B. Joshua just moments ago. 33 The child is turning. 34 It is the position the baby has been coming out with. 35 Before that baby was coming out, a lot of wrestle. 36 The doctor had been wrestling, the nurse had been wrestling. 37 Before the baby came out, it had become tired and died. 38 But this time around, it has to reposition. 39 It will come out straight.

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(Cheers and clapping) 40 It's turning; before now, it was bottom. 41 But it's now turning right. It's coming out with the head. 42 When it finishes, you can take her to the hospital. 43 How are you feel? What is happening in your stomach? 44 My baby is rotating. 45 The baby is rotating? How? 46 Because you are the one carrying baby. You know what's happening in your stomach. 47 The baby is rotating, turning like this. 48 It is turning the body? 49 Yes. 50 Rotating like this? 51 Yes, yes, yes, yes.... 52 Any moment from now, you will feel something pushing, something will come out like a

little water burst; after that, the road is open. 53 Amen. Thank You, Jesus! 54 The thing has come down now - the water I am talking about! 55 You can see the baby stopped moving because it has finally repositioned. 55 56 She is free. Ok, take her to the toilet. 57 Thank You, Jesus! 58 After receiving prayer and the Anointed Wristband from Prophet T.B. Joshua, the lady is

led out of the main auditorium to go to the lavatories and release the water that the man of God had prophesied about.

59 Waving and smiling, she is followed by her husband. 60 As she moves through the church, climbing up a short flight of stairs she enters the

lavatories, and proceeds to pass out the fluid. 61 The woman came back with her bouncing baby boy to The Synagogue, Church Of All

Nations to testify to the glory of God in confirmation of the prophecy given to her by Prophet T.B. Joshua that she would deliver a baby boy without an operation.

62 Praise the Lord! 63 Emmanuel! 64 Emmanuel! 65 Our names are Mr & Mrs Kingsley Alaribe. 66 The man of God prophesied to me that there was a woman here who had delivered three

children. 67 The first one survived, the second one died, and the third one died. 68 He said that the woman was outside, under the canopy, and that the woman should come

inside. 69 There is a woman outside there, you are pregnant. 70 Right now, you are due to deliver a baby. 71 This is almost three children that when you deliver them, when they are just a baby, they

die. 72 Immediately, I came inside and the man of God prophesied to me that I had a baby boy in

my womb and the problem that caused the death of the children was prolonged labour. 73 And he said that I should go; the problem was solved. 74 He gave me the Anointed Wristband and he said that something would burst from my

stomach. 75 When he said that, he said I should go and that this baby would not die. 76 What is happening in your stomach?

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77 My baby is rotating. 78 It is turning his body? 79 Yes. 80 Rotating like this? 81 Yes. 82 Any moment from now, you will feel something pushing,something will come out like a

little water burst; after that, the road is open. 83 Amen. Thank You, Jesus! 84 Everything the man of God said has come to pass. 85 After the prophecy, we left and went back to Imo State. 86 When we got to Imo State, I went to my doctor, and my doctor said that he would book me

for an operation because of the problem I had been having. 87 I said, "No", that the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua has broken the yoke and that I was

not going to do any operation. I used the Anointing Wristband and prayed. 88 I told the doctor that I was not going to deliver this baby through an operation. 89 Immediately, he left me. 90 In the morning, I used the Anointing Wristband and prayed. 91 I put it on my stomach and said that as far as the man of God prophesied that my baby

was not going to die, my baby is safe and secured by the hand of the Almighty God. 92 Before the doctor came, I delivered my baby so fast, without any operation 93 And this is the baby boy. 94 You can see that he's a baby boy. 95 Everything the man of God prophesied to my life is true. 96 The second baby died. 97 I didn't come out with the baby. 98 The third one died inside the labour room. 99 That was the prophecy I received. 100 And you can see that Prophet T.B. Joshua prophesied this and it has manifested. 101 I am alive. My baby is alive. 102 Emmanuel! 103 Praise the Lord! 104 Praise the living God! 105 Emmanuel! 106 Emmanuel! 107 My names are Mr & Mrs Kingsley; we came from Imo state, Nigeria. 108 During the second service, the man of God prophesied that there was a woman outside,

under the canopy, that whenever she delivered a baby, the baby would cry and then die. 109 When I heard the prophecy, I told my wife that this was our prophecy and that the Lord

had remembered us. 110 Do you remember what I told you that day? How I made a joke... 111 You said, "Well done, Oga". 112 I said, "Well done, Oga". 113 Yes, sir. 114 What's the meaning of that? 115 For a job well done because the stomach was too big. 116 After the prayer, I thank God today because the Almighty God has used Prophet T.B.

Joshua to bring laughter to my family and now, I have a baby boy. 117 He's my first son because the first son I had died. 118 But I am happy today because I have a son in the house.

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119 Thank You, Jesus!

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Appendix C. Video 3 Transcript

1 My name is Philomina Sunday. I am a widow. 2 I am a mother of nine children. 3 I have been suffering, begging for food to eat. Nobody will assist me. 4 I started going to dustbins to pick food to eat. 5 Even the clothes that I am wearing, I picked them from the dustbin, washed them to wear. 6 Even for my children, I will pick clothes from the dustbin and wash them for them to wear. 7 If we don't go to the dustbin early, we will not find food to eat. 8 When we go there early, we will find food to pick there. 9 Sometimes when we go there, we will find some foods like yam, corn, bread and groundnut. 10 We will pick all of those things there. 11 Things have been very difficult for me. 12 There was a woman who saw me at the dustbin. 13 She asked what I was doing at the dustbin with these children, picking food every day. 14 I said there was nobody to help me. 15 I have been suffering. If I go to people to give me money, they will disappoint me. 16 My boyfriend - I was thinking that he was going to help me and my children, to send them to school. But the man disappointed me. He could not do it. 17 I told the woman that this is where I get food to eat. 18 She then asked me if I knew about The SCOAN. I said, "No". 19 She said she would help me. 20 I asked her how was she going to help me get to The SCOAN because I didn't know anybody there. 21 The woman told me that I should not worry. 22 There was a day we went to a dustbin. 23 We were collecting food and cans. 24 We would sell the cans for 50 naira and use the money to buy food to eat. 25 The woman then came to me and told me that we should prepare now. 26 The woman chartered a bus and put us on it. 27 She said that if I wanted the man of God to really believe that I am suffering, I should give the man of God this cassette and he should watch it to see how I am suffering. 28 The woman gave me the cassette that I should take it to The SCOAN, that the man of God would help me. 29 Let us watch the video. 30 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 31 Is that where you live? 32 Yes, sir. 33 This is where you sleep? 34 Yes. 35 No matter your level in life, you are a solution to a problem. 36 Where is your husband? 37 He died in 2004, on the 18th of August. 38 Where is the senior one? 39 The senior daughter is here.

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40 She has married? 41 Yes. 42 My Name is Abumare Faith. 43 What my mother is saying is true. 44 Because of the suffering, I saw a man that said he was going to keep me in his house. 45 I didn't know the man was suffering. I have two children from him. 46 He doesn't have any work. 47 The clothes I am wearing are from the dustbin. 48 My mum came one day and told us that she had something to tell us. 49 She said that a woman told her to go to The SCOAN. 50 I know that as we have come here, our story will turn around. 51 Whatever we want to do to restore this family, let them be part of our family. 52 We will counsel them so that these children will not be destroyed. 53 She has no reason for getting married but because of problems. 54 That is what she is saying. 55 They have to get accommodation. These children have to go to school. 56 They will go for deliverance now. 57 That poverty is not just poverty 58 but it has become a curse and Jesus can remove this curse. 59 All over the world. People like this - they are everywhere. 60 Please find them, help them and restore them. 61 Don't just pass by and close your eyes. 62 What can we do? Let us put an end to this. 63 First, we want to give her 500,000 naira. 64 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 65 They can give them 10 bags of rice. 66 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 67 They will stay in the church until we get them a house. 68 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 69 My name is Anthonia. 70 I thank the man of God for what he has done for us. 71 Since my mother has been suffering, I saw a man that said he liked me. 72 He made me pregnant. 73 After I gave birth to my baby, I found out that the man at times has a mental problem. 74 This June, the mental problem started. 75 Sometimes he will start behaving strangely outside. 76 People will start running away. 77 He used to beat me and my baby. Sometimes he will kick us out. 78 My mother doesn't have anything. 79 If I go to her, she doesn't have anything to give me. 80 She doesn't have any place to keep me and my baby. 81 Man of God, please help me. 82 That marriage should be immediately terminated. 83 It is a wrong marriage, caused by poverty. Your future first before marriage. 84 Let them face their career and future. 85 If the Lord says they will marry tomorrow, they can marry tomorrow. 86 But that marriage should be stopped for now. 87 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 88 What a beautiful girl! Look at this one.

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89 What is your name? 90 Esther. 91 Wow - look! 92 Watch your screen. 93 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 94 Look at the face! 95 Man of God, I have something to tell you. 96 I am thanking you for removing me from poverty to riches today. 97 I am thanking you for all the good things you have done for me. 98 You will live long! 99 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 100 The opposite is the case now. I am to thank you for receiving this gift. 101 Thank you for receiving this gift. 102 You will live long! 103 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 104 Thank you. 105 TESTIMONY TIME 106 My name is Philomina Sunday. I am a widow. 107 I am 42 years old. 108 I am from Kogi State (Nigeria). 109 These are my children and grandchildren. 110 My husband died 5 years ago. 111 Since then, things have been difficult for me. 112 I have been suffering, begging for food, going to dustbins to pick food to eat with my children. 113 I thank God today that my case is over. 114 My husband was a very big man. 115 When I complained to him that I wanted to start a business, he asked me what type of business I wanted to start. 116 I told him that I wanted to sell cows. 117 He gave me the money to start the business. 118 We were living fine and rich. 119 When my husband had an accident and broke his ribs, 120 I was taking him to different hospitals, spending money. 121 He then told me that the money is finished. 122 He said he was going back to his village. 123 We prepared to go to his village. 124 He sent me to bring a document, telling me that I should not return on Monday but on Friday. 125 I asked him why he asked me to return on Friday. 126 He said it was so that he could prepare our property in the house. 127 I said okay. 128 I then went to Asaba. 129 On Thursday, I called Anthonia's phone number; it wasn't going through. 130 I was calling her daddy's number but it was also not going through. 131 So, I had to call my husband's cousin. 132 That was on Friday morning. I was feeling cold all over me. 133 I could not get myself. 134 He then told me that my husband had died.

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135 I asked what had killed him. 136 He said double cross your heart and start coming, do not to call any of your family to come. I said no; I had to go and call my parents and my uncle. They followed me to that place. 137 My husband died on August 18th, that was on Thursday at 6 o'clock. 138 They buried him at 12 o'clock, midnight. 139 They didn't allow me to see the corpse. There were a lot of complaints. 140 I said, "God, let Your will be done". 141 When my husband died, there was no money with us. 142 Since then, I have been going to the dustbin to pick food, cans and clothes. 143 I sold the cans to get money. 144 To eat once in a day was difficult. 145 That is why my daughters fell into that situation, to meet a man to help. 146 They got married and had children. 147 This is my first daughter and she has three children because of our poverty. 148 My second daughter Anthonia has a baby girl from a man. 149 The husband has a mental problem. 150 The other children are not going to school anymore. 151 My name is Anthonia Sunday. This is my baby. 152 I thank God for what He has done in our lives, for using Prophet T.B. Joshua to bless my family with 500,000 naira and 10 bags of rice. 153 We are very happy. 154 Now we no longer need to pick food from the dustbin but eat at the dining table. 155 God should continue to bless Prophet T.B. Joshua for all that he has done for us. 156 After giving Mrs Philomena Sunday and her family the sum of 500,000 naira and 10 bags of rice, 157 Prophet T.B. Joshua sent the Emmanuel TV team to look for and rent an accommodation that would be suitable for them as they prepare to open a new chapter in their lives. 158 This is the accommodation they finally chose. 159 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 160 One by one, the Emmanuel TV team enter, carrying different pieces of furniture that would transform this new appartment into a comfortable home for the family. 161 New furniture, appliances and upholstery are being brought in, soon to be arranged so that the family can move in. 162 In comes the new mattress and the frame for the bed. 163 TRY TO WATCH THIS WITHOUT CRYING!!! 164 As a finishing touch, the Emmanuel TV team and Partners purchased two comfortable chairs and a coffee table to adorn the sitting room. 165 What an amazing contrast! 166 A family who was once suffering, living on the streets and eating from dustbins 167 is now about to move into a safe, clean, pleasant and comfortable environment. 168 What a transformation! 169 Glory be to God!

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Appendix D. Entifying Bose’s poisoning (Full Table)

The entification of Bose’s poisoning

Pre-miracle

1 cruel skin disease (Narrator-Introduction)

This woman has come to The SCOAN suffering from a cruel skin disease, which has afflicted her entire body

2 brutal affliction, destructive skin disease (Narrator-Introduction)

Disfigured by the brutal affliction, the skin all over her body has been affected by this destructive skin disease.

5 debilitating ailment (Narrator-Introduction)

Even her lips have become bright red, being raw and blistered by the debilitating ailment

9 an ailment (Narrator-Introduction)

Let alone the shame and embarrassment such an ailment would bring.

2 aggressive skin disease (Narrator-Introduction)

As we continue to watch, we clearly see that no place has been left untouched by this ruthless and aggressive skin disease

34 Body poison (Maria-Interview)

Body poison.

36 Body Poison (CI -Interview)

You said she no fee talk because of this problem of body poison?

Post-miracle

53, 72, 93 Body poison (Stephen, Bose)

She was having loss of strength, loss of appetite, along other forms of symptoms due to this terrible problem of body poison in her life. The problem that brought us here was body poison. What brought me here was body poison.

63 Sickness Body Posion (Bose)

The sickness I had was body poison.

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Appendix E. TB Joshua references made in his absence

(Full Table)

Comment Form of reference

Source

This woman has come to The SCOAN suffering from a cruel skin disease, which has afflicted her entire body.

Indirect Church Owner

Narrator

Mrs Bose Stephen has come to The SCOAN, knowing that her case has gone beyond the power of nature.

Direct Narrator

And it is a product of this victory that Mrs Stephen has come to The SCOAN to receive

Direct Narrator

I can talk, before I can’t talk, when the man of God prayed for me, I can talk

Direct Bose

So when the man of God come pray for me, my body no co…my body no scratch me again After the man of God prayed for me, my body does not itch anymore

Direct Bose

I no fee talk before but when the man of God come pray for me, I come fee talk I could not talk but after the man of God prayed for me, I can talk.

Direct Bose

My body was hot but before but now but when the man of God prayed for me, my body no hot again After the man of God prayed for her, she vomited all the poison

Direct Bose

They poisoned my wife. Ee cannot eat, ee cannot talk, ee fee hot and now ee can talk after the man of God might have prayed for her My wife was poisoned. She could not eat, talk and felt hot but now, she can talk. After the man of God prayed for her, she vomited all the poison.

Direct Stephen (Husband)

Immediately after the prayer of Prophet T.B. Joshua in Jesus Christ’ name, Mrs Bose Stephen was able to wear her clothing

Direct Narrator

But when I come to the Church of all Nations, so when the man of God stretched her hand upon me, so I have strength

Direct Bose

By then I can’t even talk, I can’t even eat but when the Man of God stretched out hand toward me, I started eating

Direct Bose