Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday thanked all the religious leaders, especially 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, who also appealed to the parents to pay more attention to their wards, said that the society, is facing security challenges and other societal-ills because most parents have abdicated their responsibilities.
Speaking at a special Jumaat prayer to commemorate his second anniversary in office, Governor Sanwo-Olu specifically lauded the religious leaders in the state for complying with the all the COVIDp-19 guidelines. He said the success recorded by the state wouldn’t have been possible, if the religious leaders had not shown understandings on some of the regulations and policies made when cases were rising in the state.
The governor, 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.
He said it was disheartening that most husbands have abandoned their wives and children without taking responsibility for them. He said that it was time parent take responsibilities on their children in order to build a peaceful society.
The Governor, who also said that the state government would intensify efforts to ensure the speedy implementation of the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda, added that Lagosians should expect more projects commissioned and groundbreaking in the next two years.
He said: “The most important thing is for us to thank God, the Almighty Allah for his mercies. All of us are aware of what happened around the world. COVID-19 struck, even the most important countries or the so-called advanced countries like America lost over 600,000 people, China lost a lot of people. So we must thank God and we pray for the souls that went in Nigeria, but our number was very small. 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. We must thank our Imams and of course our Christian Brothers, because during lockdown we were challenged and we had meetings with our Imams and they were very forthright, they said if we needed to shut the mosque, then shut it. They did not argue, they said if it was about safety, then shut it down. So we didn’t have any crisis. We must thank all our Imams, and may Almighty Allah continue to be with you. ”
The Governor, however, added that COVID is not yet gone, urging the residents to always observe safety guidelines as established by health experts in order not to contract the virus. 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 variant of the pandemic.
