As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic with Nigeria’s confirmed cases rising, Presiding Bishop of Holy Ghost Mission (Happy Family Centre), Bishop Charles Ighele, spoke to ADEOLA OGUNLADE on the virus, role of the church and government relentless effort at curbing its spread. Excerpts:
What is your general overview of your COVID-19?
As a man of God, looking at it from the history of the world, the first disaster that affected the world was the flood. That flood was caused by God Himself. It swept out all the people of the race, except Noah and His family who were found to be righteous. We have had a lot of plagues that had taken placed on the planet earth. I know that there was The Justian Plague, which came from Egypt and half of the world population was wiped out.
There was another plague I read about eight years in book written by Jigba Igwe. I saw a plague in that book. The plague came from China in 1336. It was called the Bubonic plague. In 1336, the plague reached England and Italy and any country it went into, about half of the population of the people died. It was called the Black Death. The plague traveled through the black sea from China to Europe. It came through travelers and sailors. It was that period the word quarantine came into existence. Plagues have already been there in human history. Since 1940, cholera and smallpox plague wiped out about 10 million people in Mexico. So, far, this is one of them. I see historically and I look at it, this is just one of them and by God’s grace, it will be curtailed.
This coronavirus is so symbolic. We had similar pandemic from China (SARS and MERS), is it a results of the signs of the end time or unhygienic ways people are living their lives?
You see in the End Time, a lot of disasters will happen. Secondly, when men turn their back from God anything can happen. Generally, the one caused by God Himself was because they turned their back from God. The imagination of their heart were evil continually and God repented that he made man.
A lot of plagues that have hit the earth were results of man saying I know too much or unhygienic ways of men. In the bible, even in the Old Testament, God in the Old Testament commanded that excretes should be buried. God is a God who loves neatness. On the planet earth, men lives their lives anyhow. People eat what they should not eat and they are dirty all over the world. The more man turns his back from God, the more man is open to plague.
For us as believers at this time, what should be our attitude?
I thought that many of the Governors in Nigeria are Christians or Muslim and I want to commend the Lagos State Government where l stay. He has done an excellent job in sensitising the people. There is not much one can do like he has done. All the Governors have done tremendously well. Death is everywhere and imminent and we don’t know where we can run to and we don’t have the facility.
What I want to say is that the government has tried. I want the government and citizens to sit up and come corporately closer to God. I think when there is problem, man will come closer to God. Naturally, and in this very instance, I hear all mosques and churches closed down. I am saying if I were the Governor, I will not close down a church or place of worship.
In 1336-1338, when there was plague in England, the King of England, Edward the Third, called on the churches to pray. He asked the Bishop of Canterbury to organise the churches to pray and Bishops started praying. The plague came and the people started praying and its drew many closer to God and some its drew them far away from God.
Americans are washing their hands but they are still dying. In London, a plague took place in 1665 and as they were dying, those who survived put the sign of the cross on their doors and with inscription on their doors saying Jesus have mercy upon us. So, I think that what I really think what the Nigeria authorities to do if we are really a religious country is to call for prayers.
Closing down of churches is not okay with me, instead I will say, families of the pastors, bishops and nearby families can go to church and worship and should not near each other. If we are 12 at home, do we keep social distances in the same house? The pastors and their families can go to church and keep social distance from one another. I know that a lot of pastors have misbehaved. Some people, who are called men of God, are not truthful. Some are highly immoral and some are running after money and many Nigerians generally are fed up with churches because they feel pastors are after money and some are like satanic temples.
In Israel, things were bad that people backslidded in the time of Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah thought he was the only one that was righteous but God told him that there are still 7, 000 faithful Prophets not following Baal. I want Nigerians to know that there are still holy and honourable men of God. Just allow pastors go to church and ensure there should be social distance.
I hear some pastors saying God is in your heart and this is not so if you know how God operate. God want people to know him individually and corporately. There is the spiritual energy that is released when people meet to pray. Let fight the virus spiritually because all of us will one day will face death. The President of Brazil last Thursday decreed that places of worship are essential services like supermarkets and pharmacies.
There were churches harassed and Pastors arrested for failure to comply with the lockdown directives. Should the pastor had obeyed and later negotiate with the government?
In our ministry, we have nearly 80 churches in this country. The police went to two of our churches. In one of them, they were satisfied with what they saw but the other church there were 20 in service and members were told to leave the church. They were 20, which was in line with government regulation.
They sat separated and said that the church should close and go home. For me, that was not okay at all. lf the government should say 20 should be in one place, as far as l am concerned , I obeyed. Some of the medical doctors in one of our churches called me and said children cannot do social distance. What do we do and I said that for now, the children church should be closed and let them sit with their parents in the adult church. So, they sat by family in accordance with the law of the state. If they should say so and you go out and say, I will not comply. I think it is a thing not to disobey constituted authorities.It can’t be negotiated. They have to be law and order in any society
Are you calling on CAN AND PFN to go back to the negotiating table with the government over the closure of the church?
That is what they should do. To me, I know that the Governors are either Christians and Muslim and they will be assured the church will adhere to safety guidelines,. But let prayers be made continually made to God over COVID-19. Let there be prayers. The God aspect of faith have not be brought into it. I don’t see how Christians leaders would be silent; we can’t be silent at this time, I want to plead with the men of God; no Governor should be attacked or insulted.
There is fear and they want to protect their citizens. It is just a matter of negotiating with them. For example, if 20 people can be in the supermarket and shopping mail or even in the open market or other essential services such as hospital, then let them go to church. Men of God and their staff are essential services. People are calling us, people are dying, they are committing suicide, they run to us.
The real church is not a joke especially, those people going through emotional trauma. They hve nowhere to go to. If NEPA is an essential service, then, let men of God and their staff be included as essential service providers. Let them be there to minister to the needs of the people. In times like this, pastor don’t run away from the battle fronts.
Likewise medical doctors and nurses don’t run away from battle fronts. All of us should be at the front of this battle. There are those who believe in prayers. They are those who believe in the word of God and they are just happy. Fear has destroyed more people than coronavirus. So, as they hear the word of God and the fear goes away, they are going to be happy. So, let CAN and PFN and other leaders who have influence step into this thing and then negotiate with the different governments so that they can be what we called skeletal essential service provided by the church
Do you believe that Coronavirus will end soon?
When I look at the history of plagues, if God should cause a plague like the one that was caused by God, which was restricted to Israel, people were dying and King David prayed, and offered sacrifice and the plague stopped immediately. So, if this plague is caused by God, as we cry out, it can end immediately.
But if a plague is caused by the misbehaviors of man such as when man eat what he should not eat and do what is not supposed to do, all we have to do is that our families to be protected and God should be bring the medical solution that can take care of it. COVID-19 is affecting the world economy, human and personal relationship. It will also affect scientific inventions.
Infact, COVID-19 will affect a lot of things. Some plagues in the past have brought about revolution. I want to just advise that the poverty level have been very high. What will be the effect of the lockdown on the people? Right now, my advice to government is what is going to happen to this poor people already poor. What will be the effect of the lockdown on them?
On that basics, we need to bring about programme that will help to mass lift the people into productivity. How can we as government lift the stark illiterates to productivity? How can we as a government have a census and help Nigeria read and write? How can we help and position students in secondary school into productivity? How can we raise people who went to universities and cannot spell their names?
How can we make them productive in accordance with their reading capacity? After each great revolution, when we look at the French revolution of 1959. I want to tell you that the social protest will arise. There will be serious war after this and it will be more serious than the plague and countries of the world should begin to get grains ready on how we can prevent it.
