The Lagos state government is beginning to treat the issue of reopening worship centers as if the worshipers have no constitutional rights and that freedom of religion is not a constitutional right here. The Govt. should note well that to govern man made by God without God is an exercise in futility, consequently to treat religious worship as none essential is government’s biggest blunder. Yes, it is routine for scientists and health care professionals to critically evaluate what is put forward as scientific evidence, and it would be ideal if researchers or public health officials were always trustworthy, completely honest, or free of error regarding the safety and efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions (npi) like hand washing, face masks, social distancing and state-wide lockdowns, but that this is not always the case if the God factor is ignored.
The sharp increase in the number of infections, in our view, is neither necessarily evidence of new infections nor the result of a welcome increase in the number of tests but is rather a manifestation of the woeful failure of govt. to enforce the non-pharmaceutical interventions (npi) it put out for the control of the pandemic. The state is littered with evidence of govt. failure in this regard and for govt. to ignore this fact will turn the pandemic from Covid-19 into Covid-419 in the minds of Lagosians. We believe strongly that if govt. should garner the political will to strictly enforce the npi through, for example, the reintroduction of the KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) BRIGADE, it will see immediate positive results in the community spread stage which the pandemic has entered.
Here is another way out of the irreligiousity being deliberately, naively or misguidedly promoted by the continuing lockdown of worship centers. It is common knowledge that weekday services attract a max of 20% attendance and so the anticipated crowds at Friday and Sunday services (which scared govt. into postponing the reopening of worship centers) could be avoided temporarily by reopening worship centers on three or four weekdays. This will enable worship center operators to use the low attendance to strategize and gather useful and relevant experience for running the oversubscribed weekend services better later. Govt. should note however that whatever is the “new normal”, worship centers will be opened in the nearest future without fail because man made by God cannot be governed successfully without reference to God.