Your Excellency – Let the churches wait

Just waking up to figures showing plus 12,000 infection rate and a plus 300 death rate throwing me back into the effective panic I found myself at the very beginning of this pandemic. It is very clear that this set of leaders who have been asserting all sort of pressure and influence to ensure a reversal are all about their selfish and narrow interest as against the interest of the hoodwinked crowd that throng their places for the so called salvation.

The situation is dire showing no signs of a slowdown. Daily, I see full frontal assault by these so called Church leaders who have borne the brunt of the lockdown calling for their opening, comparing thier situations to that of the markets and other such vital economic activities.

This situation has more than ever before exposed these church leaders for what they truly are – Merchants. Pushing for a reopening at the point where there seems to be no hope in sight is just a formula for disaster.

The Lago State government has just cried out, that in two weeks’ time we will run out of beds. Testing is still at its sublimely state although improving and discharges are growing at a tepid rate. The government in its resolve to fight this scourge was faced with a neither here nor there scenario where whichever way you look, people will suffer and die. Not opening the economy was throwing up more deadly challenges like insecurity, economic downturn with loss of jobs running into the millions, and with the easing of the lockdowns we have seen the infectious rates ramp up astronomically with deaths climbing at an unacceptable rate.

We already have issues trying to enforce social distancing and other such measures in areas that remain impossible to control, like bus-stops, markets, slums and in the attitudes and cultural ethos of the people. For the religious conclaves that can be regulated and controlled, the leaders are screaming blue murder as if their gods would throw down a miracle cure.

Like I was trying to say, these church leaders – I refrain to add the Muslims and traditionalists because they have not been vocal in these calls-have really been thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated by this situation and instead of them to pull back and support governments’ efforts they are busy calling out those not wanting the opening of the churches as ‘Agents of Satan’.

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None of them saw this in their prophesies and projections. Which God are they worshiping that he did not take them into confidence or discuss with them this pestilence that has afflicted millions and killed thousands? Which God I ask again? Now, even at the point where they missed that memo, they have been running around making empty prophesies giving dates that the pandemic will end or sending out proclamations that would make a Nursery School child squirm in embarrassment. Proclamation that people will die as a result of Covid-19. If this isn’t obvious enough, I dont know what else is.

The church has been variously denigrated and rubbished in our system. It is now a center for commerce with regional Pastors being handed over targets like little branch managers in our banks. They pursue and harass member looking for them to open ‘accounts’ and they also hold monthly MPRs like they do in banks to review performance.

The hallucinatory feature of the whole thing makes reason and logic fly away through the huge windows that ordain their golden pavilions. They will push such blatant and hollow messages to their members that ‘covid is not their portion; They will quote the Passover telling them that this too shall pass and with these, hapless Nigerians will throng these places to seek salvation that was not lost in the first place and in the process further exacerbate the problem.

Your Excellency, I really represent huge swath of the population canvassing this postion. As I write, we have witnessed a historic three days decline in the rate of infection in Lagos hoping that this would be sustainable. So, opening up these churches will definitely reverse this very little gain as the Pastors, I must be bold to say, would be driven by nothing but very parochial need for revenue under the guise of ‘tithes’. They have even given us instruction on how to pay these tithes online so as to keep the ‘business’ running.

So, Your Excellency you have done powerfully well on this pandemic and would like for you to keep the fire burning by holding back on these worship centers until we either have a vaccine or a cure.

Author: Joseph Edgar…

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