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Philip Nwosu
As the Catholic Church celebrates 54th World Communication day, the Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Alfred Adewale Martin spoke on what the story line should be for communication experts and Coronavirus virus, as well as what the government must do to reopen churches:
With the increase of Coronavirus every, what is the hope for Nigerians?
It is a matter of deep concern that the number of infection are increasing to some extent it is a measure of relief because it gives an indication that more people are being tested and if more people are being tested and those who have the virus are being identified and treated, in many ways that is a sign of hope, because gradually by the grace of God we shall see the end of this infections. I think it is important to ask the government to continue to ramp up the whole process of testing and identifying those who have the virus because in my own understanding that is an indication that we are dealing with the issue and treating those who are infected so that more do not get infected. The hope is as the curve is flattened the infection will come to an end. Apart from that I think our people should just know that there is nothing that lasts forever apart from the grace of God and if this thing began at a point in time, it is bound to come to an end at another point in time, there had been viruses and infections that have happened down the line in history and people have just taken the right kind of steps to ensure they were brought to an end, and much in the past when we did not have as much medical facilities and as much discoveries in medicine as we have now, they were able to overcome it at that time, we should be hopeful that we will overcome this as well. We should also recognize the fact that God is the Lord of all creation and He is in total control and whatever happens, God can bring it to an end and that is part of what gives us hope that this will not last forever. So, I want to encourage our people to be hopeful and never lose their hope, knowing full well that if we all do our part, God will do His own bit, as they say, taking the precautions that had been outlined, I am sure when we take those precautions, our hope will be reinforced.
Are you satisfied with the distribution of palliatives despite the lock down?
Yes, the government gave palliatives to people and it seems that the palliatives are dwindling out now. Obviously, the needs of people are dwindling out now and we must not and we must not fail to ask our government to continue to do what is necessary in order that people can get relief. Many are not able to carry out their businesses as normal, therefore, they are not earning money, many who are carrying out their business are not able to earn as much as they use to earn, so we want to urge the government to take the welfare of people as primary and be able to give palliatives and support to people who are most in need.
Has the government done enough to ensure that it contains the Coronavirus?
I believe that here in Lagos State we can say without much fear of contradiction that the government has tried and it’s trying. The speed with which it reacted when the index case was mentioned was very commendable, the steps that were taken since then to establish isolation centres and get people to support are very commendable, also commendable is the continuous giving of information as to what is going on with it. I think the Federal Government took a cue from that with the presidential task force giving information everyday and working with the state. So, to that extent and in that direction we say government is doing a lot, but like you said before in terms getting local remedies, there’s a lot to be done, in continuation to give palliatives there’s a lot more that needs to be done and generally helping people to feel that all hopes are not lost, there is more that can be done. With regards to stigmatization, I think we can only appeal to people to have confidence that those who contracted the virus and have been declared free of the virus are just free, and, therefore, there is no need to stigmatize them. And in any case, it is not as if they have stolen or committed any moral infraction or they have committed a sin and, therefore, it is not appropriate to sigmatise those who have gone through it and are well. Science and laboratory test is what told us that they have the virus and if the same laboratory test has said they do not have the disease any more, why are we refusing to believe it. So, I think we have to work on ourselves as regards stigmatization and let people live, ironically, who knows who is next.
What is your advice to the government, especially as many organisations are planning to downsize their workforce?
Obviously, it is a big problem as it is today, the economic environment is very bad, it was bad before; COVID-19 has made it worse, our oil is not being sold as much as it used to be, even the cost has gone down and that has a chain of effect. We can only ask and hope that our government is taking the right steps to ensure that the effects on the economy are reduced. In some other countries, the government is giving some stimulus to enterprises in order that they can keep their workforce and assist them in different ways, we hope that our government can also take these steps so that stimulus can be given, such that private enterprises will not have to lay off their workers, I think that government needs to think about that and generate initiative that will ensure that people are not thrown out of work as a result of these problems.
What step will you be bringing to the table when negotiation begins in the area of reopening the church?
The Christian Association of Nigeria had a discussion about this and has a proposal to make to the government, the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria has its proposal to make to the government as regards to the lockdown. We believe that the physical distancing is a very vital part of checking the spread of the virus, because people need to worship and at the same time remain safe. The function of how many need to worship should also relates to the size of the church, if there is a church that can take 1,000 persons and ensures that there is two meters between them, that should help to determine how many can worship at any point in time. We should recognize that pastors of our churches are responsible enough to determine what will keep them safe and keep their flock safe as well and apart from that the use of sanitizers made available and water to wash hands made available and ensuring that not many people come in at the same time, people can come through one gate and exit through another gate so that there is no jamming up of people and then an effort to ensure that we know who and who are in church at any point in time such that if anything happens we will be able to know who and who were in at any point in time. So, all of these are part of the thought that we are having as a church and I believe that the government should be able to take us into confidence and as responsible as to take care of the situation as they are.
What is your reaction to the donation of church health facilities to the government, especially as people are worried of the aftermath of such donations?
It is not true that the church donated health facilities to the government, what the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria has done was to make available the facilities for government to use if and when there is need, before government will make use of the facilities it will enter into discussion with the owner of the institution to know if the facility is suitable for isolation of people. If it is suitable then we can agree on the way of making it available for use. This is why I think that people should not worry. I know in the Archdiocese of Lagos, for example, the government has not approached us that it has need of any of our facilities. If the government approaches us and we are able to agree on the use, our people will know that this has been done. Even after the isolation and COVID-19 is eradicated, the hospital will still remain safe because it will be disinfected and in any case it is not all part of the hospital will be used, the part that will be used will be disinfected, made safe and ready for people to use, there is no need for the kind of anxiety that we are seeing, we are aware of the need for safety and need for the environment that is safe.
We want you to assess the distribution of palliatives since the outbreak of this pandemic in the light of the fact that Lagos was on lockdown, we did not see much of Federal Government palliatives and now Kano is on lockdown and we have been seeing palliatives being shipped to Kano?
Indeed, I know there had been quite good beat of dissatisfaction expressed by people with regards to the distribution of palliatives. Individuals and groups made their efforts, Lagos State government made its effort, but it took a while to begin to see the presence of Federal Government in the state. I think it is necessary that the feeling of not paying attention to the needs of people of Lagos needs to be addressed frontally. Because this was where the problems began from, this was where that which sustained the economy of Nigeria subsists and this is where people from every part of Nigeria live. Therefore, it is very important that the Federal Government ensures that the people of Lagos feel their presence more than ever before. Of course, the people of Kano need all the grains that they can get, one cannot say that it is wrong that they needed to get what they need to get, but it is also important that government pays the same attention to every part of the country.
What are the positive outcomes that we should take away from COVID-19?
From COVID-19, there had been positive and negative outcomes and I think one of the positive outcomes of COVID-19 is that it has helped everyone to recognize that the state of health delivery in our nation is far below average and this has been revealed very clearly during the outbreak initially. It is positive in the sense that it ought to make the government pay more attention to health facilities available to people in the country. One was very inspired to see that the Prime Minister of Britain had to walk over to the next hospital to get treated for his own ailment. It is just the same hospital that any citizen go to, I think government should take that as a real positive thing from those experiences to improve on the health facilities of our nation. The other positive is that more and more people are able to stay in their home and bond with their families and again the church is recognizing more than ever before, the role that the media play in communicating with the people. Before we draw this to a close I would like to make reference to one of those conspiracy theories that is coming up just as as when COVID-19 started and that was the one that was promoted by one Mr. Joseph Okechukwu, that is, the 5G issue and he connection with the pandemic and the whole issue of wanting to create an artificial intelligence church. I think it is important to express our opinion about that, particularly because some people went as far as to declare the Pope as anti-Christ. I think that is completely absurd and it is beyond what any reasonable person can conceive. The issue between 5G and the pandemic is in the realm of sciences, it is the science that will be able to say there is a connection or there is no connection, so we leave that to the scientists to say there is a connection or there is no connection, but to now link it to artificial intelligence church is far beyond my understanding and to claim that our Holy Father is one of those wanting to create artificial intelligence church is certainly well beyond reason, particularly when we recongise the fact that the Pope had constantly said that the economy and politics cannot be used to dehumanize people, he is one of those persons who have constantly said that nothing should have precedents over human dignity. So, if 5G is going to have an impact on human dignity, how can anybody link it to the church, I think it is preposterous and we should really ask those misusing the Bible to make that kind of a connection to go and study the scriptures well, particularly the book of Revelations, study it well, study the context in which the book of Revelations was written and understand what the book of Revelations is all about. Those conspiracy is way beyond reason as far as we are concerned and those who push it need to be more careful in pushing stories that are negative.
