.Hails clerics on cooperation so far

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has tasked religious bodies in the state to be vigilant and continue to adhere strictly with all safety protocols to prevent infection of COVID-19 variants in the country, saying, “it’s not yet over “

This came as Sanwo-Olu, commended

religious leaders, particularly Imams, for their cooperation during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic, saying their cooperation over the protocols and guidelines helped in the successful management of the pandemic.

The governor, made the remarks on Friday, during a Special Thanksgiving Kumar/Prayers in commemoration of the second anniversary in office, held in Alausa Central Mosque, Ikeja.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, also urged parent, particularly men to be responsible for their families in order to train their children uprightly.

Highlighting COVID-19 pandemic as one of the encounters of the administration, he commended the Imams and the Christian faithful for their understanding and forthrightness in tackling the pandemic.

He warned there are new variants that could be recorded in the country due to influx of people into the country with reported cases of the deadly variants of the pandemic.

According to the governor: ”The most important thing is for us to thank God, the Almighty Allah for his mercies. When the pandemic started, everybody in the world said that they are afraid for Africa, that they will be picking bodies on the streets.

”But Allah did not allow that to happen. Not because we are good people, so we must thank God for his mercies. And we must thank our Imams and of course our Christian brothers.

”COVID is not yet gone, it is better but it is not yet gone, so we must tell ourselves because we can see what is happening in Brazil, you can see what is happening in India. So the new variants can still come in, so we have to be careful and vigilant May Almighty Allah protect all of us.”

Citing the EndSARS protest that rocked the state, he urged all to eschew anger and bitterness, as such would cause more harm than good.

The world is a very angry place, everybody is angry. If you go to Agentina they are protesting, in America they are protesting, everywhere in the world, we are all just angry.

”But like a former governor will always say, anger is never a strategy because you don’t gain anything from anger.

”So we saw what happened with EndSARS, legitimate concern, very legitimate, the protest was initially peaceful but we saw the end result. So it is from the same purse that we will go and fix those things, instead of fixing something else,” he said. 

He also charged parents to assume their responsibilities toward their children, so as to ensure a better society.

The governor, stressed that it was the responsibility of the father and mother to cater for the children, so that their attitude would be well built.

”Therefore, it is important that we all take care of our children. What is happening to us as a people?

”In Lagos today, there is a study going on, there are over 600,000 women that their husbands are not dead but they are widowed, but their husbands are alive, they just left.

”So somebody has three kids with a wife and he just left, how does society survive that? What are we telling ourselves as parents? If the family is destroyed, everything is finished. You must feed the family.

”So our Imams, our churches must talk about the family, the importance of father, why we should take care of our children. We must do everything to raise our children well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi said that the special jumat/prayer was to thank Almighty Allah for the efforts of the present administration.

Elegushi said that the programme was also to further pray for Sanwo-Olu’s administration to succeed in all its endeavours. 

Special prayers were offered by Islamic clerics for the governor, deputy governor and their families; the speaker and members of the Lagos House of Assembly; the Chief Judge of Lagos, cabinet members, among others.

Vanguard News Nigeria