Ikorodu Residents React As Govt Reopens Worship Places, Schools

Kunle Adelabu

Fadhilatul Sheikh Seifudeen Ayinla Ademoritan Olowo-Oribi, the Grand Chief Imam of Ikorodu Division and Chief Imam of Ikorodu Central Mosque (left), the Chief Imam of Oriwu Central Mosque, Ikorodu Division, His Eminence, Sheikh Yahya Olorunosebi Oshoala Ajagbemokeferi (As – Samadani) and Fadeelatul – Sheikh, Al – Imam Dhikurullahi Abdullahi Andu (Tanimose), the Chief Imam, Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA and Chief Imam, Igbogbo Central Mosque, led Jumat prayers in their different Mosques on Friday.

Residents of Ikorodu have been reacting to the directive of the Lagos State Government concerning reopening of worship places and partial reopening of schools across the state.

Both the schools and religious centres have been shutdown since March due to the ravaging COVID  – 19 pandemic.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had on Saturday, August 1, 2020, directed worship centres to reopen with 50 per cent of there maximum capacity effective from August 7, 2020.

Students in transitional classes in both public and private schools had been directed to resume days before the directive on the reopening of the worship centres.

Meanwhile, a cross section of residents in a chat with THE IMPACT has been reacting to the government’s directive on the reopening ofthe schools and centres.

Julius Alade Oloyede, a journalist, community developer and social media activist, while expressing his support for the reopening directives, called for caution in the implementation of the directives so as not to experience resurgence of the pandemic.

“With respect to the reopening of schools for finalists, I express my qualified support to the Lagos State government’s comprehensive directives to schools and the preventive measures listed.

 “But the implementation is where we have got challenges. And this is a circumstance that we must not fail to manage successfully.

“ I have reservations about the instructions given to religious centres to reopen. We need to tread with caution and concern because COVID19 is susceptible to spreading where there is crowd.

He said that the government should have waited at least six months before lifting restrictions on worship centres and schools.

”We need to learn from the mistakes made by other countries. Nigerians and the government of the country ought to wait till at least six months after the outbreak before withdrawing the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the evil virus”, Oloyede said.

A community developer and public analyst, Mr Monday Ohireime Obadan, gave his total support to the directives, stating that market places that are more crowded and uncontrolled have been opened several months back.

“Reopening of worship centers is long overdue for the same reasons that they provide essential socio-spiritual services just like the open and overcrowded markets”, he said.

“If such markets like Mile 12, Sabo (Ayangbure  market) and Owode Onirin have been opened, Churches which operate probably thrice a week should have long been opened”.

 He, however, called for strict adherence to the necessary safety measures in various schools, while also speaking Biblically that there is always divine intervention for children.

Mr MondayOhi Obadan and Mr Semiu Akinlawon Fasasi

“On the partial reopening of schools, as long as there is a God in heaven that did not allow the plagues in Egypt to affect the Children of Israel when they camped in Goshen in Biblical times, He knows how to take care of these children provided all the guidelines and safety protocols are adhered with strictly just as the Israelites were also told by God to take some precautionary measures to be safeguarded when the plagues occurred in Biblical times”, Mr Obadan said.

Mr Semiu Akinlawon Fasasi, Chairman, NASU LASPOTECH Chapter and a social commentator, while expressing his thought along the global conspiracy, also stated that the directives to reopen  schools and worship  centres imply that the ravaging COVID – 19 has ceased.

“Having observed all the intrigues globally, it suggests that COVID-19 is a global phenomenon and conspiracies of which Nigeria is not left out. Across all the continents of the world, Nigeria is key to Africa.

 “Reopening of worship centres and Secondary/Grammar school, to me, is a pointer by the Government that COVID-19 is no more and the world economy is also reopening”, Fasasi said.

 “But alas, nothing is impossible in this world, if it’s true that there are satanic agents that are planning to reduce the world population through the introduction of COVID-19 which the USA President described as China virus, then, this is the easiest way and the real time to achieve the satanic objective”.

 On the reopening of worship places, he said that pressure from a section of the country, especially religious leaders, made the government to accept the reopening of Churches and Mosques.

He also called for caution in reopening of educational institutions and worship centres

 “Aside those who worship God for economic purposes, worshipping God can be perfectly done within the private domain of individual worshippers.

 “No doubt, the pressure on Governments across the infected countries to reopen the countries is enormous, yet the Nigerian Government should tread with caution in reopening worship centres and schools.

 “It will be calamitous if the spread of the virus escalates through the worship centres and schools. Unfortunately, most Nigerians don’t believe COVID-19 is real. Enough words are better for the wise”, Comrade Fasasi stated while calling for caution.

Gbenga Odunniyi, President, Igbogbo Youths Coalition (IYC), while calling for caution in handling the reopening of worship centres, stated that religious leaders across the country have been agitating for this on the ground that markets have been reopened.

 “Reopening of worship centers is a sensitive case that needs to be handled with utmost care. It is a topic that generates a lot of debates since the beginning of the lockdown.

 “A popular Pastor in Nigeria opined that it is suspicious for the government to reopen markets and allowed hospitals to work while churches were closed down”, Odunniyi recalled.

“The Pastor also claimed that churches are healing places which provide better positive results than hospitals. We should also remember the mosque at Agege that flouted government directives and the opened mosque for worship on a Friday and hundreds of worshippers gathered and worshiped.

 The IYC President said that religious centres offer people avenues to gather, pray, receive miracles and also give the people hope, adding that it is a good thing to reopen them to give people a new lease of life.

Odunniyi Gbenga, Alade Oloyede and Taofeeq Olorunjedalo Amodu.

 “Apart from being a worship center that offers various degrees of opportunities for people to gather, pray, and receive miracles, the truth is that these centers are places for religious gatherings, preaching and other activities that give the people hope. A lot of people attend churches to find succour.

 “Some go there because they hoped to get help, and I am not talking about material help here. So, like the Pastor said, worshipping together also heals. And right now, Nigerians need to heal; not from COVID-19 but from its devastating emotional, mental and psychological effects”, he said.

 “People have already developed the habit of attending religious services on a weekly or daily basis. This habit has been a life-long one for many people. They already have it in their routine that on this day of the week, they have to dress up, go to this house, stay with other worshippers and pray together.

 “But since the pandemic started, the routine has changed and made a lot of people complacent.

“Reopening worship centers will, therefore, help in returning stability and normalcy to the lives of many Nigerians. They will no longer feel as if they are in a period of war”, Odunniyi said.

 He further expressed fear that worshippers may not adhere to the COVID – 19 protocols which may cause escalation of the pandemic in the country.

 “It is my belief that most of these worship centers might not absolutely adhere to the government basic tenet, not because they are not organized but some worship centers are too overcrowded that the social distancing might not work.

“Some churches are overcrowded that even their 50% capacity is much more than a village population. How do you expect the Muslims to cope with this when they have a unified time of worshipping?”, he asked.

 “Apart from the overcrowding, length of service might also be a challenge. The longer you stay in a confined area, the higher the possibility of getting infected with a virus”.

 He, however, opined that reopening of worship centres and schools would not cause spread of the virus since markets which have been allowed to reopen since did not bring about any increase.

“If markets can reopen without causing any multiplier effect on the number of infected people and there is no increase in community transmission. It is safe to say reopening of the worship centers is a good move in the right direction”.

 Taofeeq Olorunjedalo Amodu, a Muslim and social media commentator, commended the government for the management of the ravaging COVID – 19 pandemic.

 He added that religious centres should endeavour to adhere strictly to the stipulated regulations as directed by the government.

“We might have been condemning the government for shutting down schools and religious houses while allowing markets and other public places to operate, saying that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop on the part of the students and that people have been made to be far away from their Creator.

 “But what we failed to understand is that government has been at the forefront of curtailing this pandemic, hence they know better for they see what we don’t see and to God be the glory, the curve is getting flattening which is evident when we consider  the low cases recorded in recent times and shutting down of isolation centres”, he said.

“As these public places are given green light to open, let’s have it at the back of our mind that the government has done its best, it behoves on us at this point in time to help and love ourselves by adhering strictly to the necessary measures. Soon, we’ll be rid of this ravaging pandemic”.

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