Though the war against the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic across the world is still ongoing even as most of the hard-hit countries are yet to recover fully from its effects on their economic and social lives, yet the pandemic seems to be mutating, going by the variants now emerging including the current Delta Variant, signifying the third wave of the pandemic.
One of the major institutions that had suffered most from the pandemic is the Church where, especially in Nigeria, it is still recovering from the effect of the 2020 lockdown just as progress in the propagation of the gospel had been slowed down considerably.
The Delta Variant of the COVID-19 pandemic according to reports is deadlier than the initial virus and has called for more preparedness to tackle the disease and stop it from claiming more lives.
However, Sunday Tribune Church’s investigation revealed that many churches, even before the advent of the Delta Variant have relatively relaxed their observance of the protocols and strict adherence to the precautionary measures at their indoor and outdoor crusades, prayer meetings, anniversaries, and conventions, among other programmes.
From observation, quite a few still comply with the protocols, especially with the use of nose masks and hand sanitisers.
A monitoring exercise conducted by Sunday Tribune Church also saw some churches such as the Christ Apostolic Church, Ita-Baale, Olugbode Missionary Headquarters, Ibadan, Oyo State strictly complying with the COVID-19 protocols during services.
Sunday Tribune also noted that though about 70 percent of the members of the church in one of the remote areas of the city were aged, virtually all of them were seen using nose masks during a Sunday service as the church authorities at every point instructed members to comply with government’s protocols.
Sunday Tribune Church, however, spoke with Christian bodies and leaders on the consistency and preparedness of the church on the fight against the latest wave of the pandemic.
The Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) president, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said that “The lockdown faced every facet of the polity, not the church alone. What is the government that closed schools during the first and second phases of COVID-19 doing now? What are they doing to protect the students in the school in the third phase? They also reopened markets, what are they doing now in the market places?
“They always come after the church because they know the Church is the most organised and most lawful association you can think of. If you go to churches and you see that they are not observing the protocol, you (can) call the pastor and ask what he is doing about it. As far as CAN is concerned, throughout the other waves of COVID-19 we told them (members) that they should adhere strictly to all directives, we can’t do more than that.”
Oladeji also noted that CAN recently met with church leaders across the country in Lagos and they were enlightened further on the pandemic and prayed against the spread of the virus, just as he added that the body will not relent in prayers and restoration of health to those that have contracted the disease.
“These are the only things the church can do. The question is: is the government paying attention to it (COVID-19) or not? We go to church at most once a week and only a handful of people go to church every week, but people go to the market every day, and nothing is done about that. Also, in some schools, you may not find one person using a common face mask. Do they make it available to schools? How many people have access to the COVID vaccine the government has provided? Let’s push it back to the government, what are they doing? Those running the system, what are they doing about it? Other countries are thinking about how to protect their citizens from COVID-19. There are many important things to be done than fighting and arguing on social media,” he added.
According to the president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt, brought untold hardships across the globe and has changed the configuration of the world on all fronts in different quarters.
He also lamented that the death toll that accompanied the disease right from the onset has been unimaginable, adding, “So, with the speculation of the third wave of the dreaded virus, which is said to be deadlier, we at the PFN, shall ensure precautionary measures in our gatherings. We will not deviate from observing its known protocols, which entails hand-washing, social distancing, and wearing face masks.
“As a measure, while mounting more campaigns about the virus in our various places of worships, laid down protocols by the regulatory body shall not be wished away and shall strictly be adhered to. In addition, we shall continue to pray that God should cleanse the world and put an end to all forms of afflictions in our midst. More importantly, I want to assure you that through our collective prayers, the Lord will mitigate the effect of the much-talked-about third wave of COVID-19; and it will become a forgotten issue,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of his denomination, the founder, Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) Unification Church, Apostle Dave Salako, said that the church has reinforced the coronavirus protocols again as the third wave seems to be rears its ugly head.
He, however, advised that every church and mosque must be careful and enforce full compliance with the protocols as people are yet to understand the implications because most people have returned to full social activities.
“As for us we have reinforced the protocols again even as we continue to preach that they should not stop observing the protocols. When the curve started flattening, we thought that we were getting freedom from the pandemic. But, with the recent development, we concluded that it is not yet Uhuru, until we are sure it is gone forever,” he added.
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