Gilbert Ekezie
In order to support the fight against Coronavirus pandemic, the Lagos Diocese (Anglican Communion) announced a donation of the sum of N5million to the designated account provided by the Lagos State Government. The church also donated food items and medical kits to the weak and vulnerable families in the state as part of her efforts to cushion the effects of the pandemic.
Making the donation at the Marina , Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev Dr Humphrey Olumakaiye said it was part of the church’s contribution to complement efforts of the Lagos State Government in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Items presented to identified vulnerable and weak families include A total of five hundred bags of 12.5kg rice, five hundred bags of 5kg rice, twenty bags of 50kg rice, four hundred and fifty bags of 2kg garri, forty-three cartons of different sizes of vegetable oil, twenty-eight bags of sugar, twenty cartons of spaghetti, fifty cartons of noodles and nine cartons of macaroni. Others are; thirty-four cartons of milk and twenty-five cartons of beverages (milo and Ovaltine), lorry load of water, seventy-five cartons of sanitisers and other medical kits.
Olumakaiye who was represented by the Secretary of the Synod, Venerable Segun Ladeinde commended governor Sanwo-Olu for his doggedness in the fight against coronavirus, pointing out the church deemed it necessary as a diocese to lend her own support to the laudable efforts of the government to cushion the unsettling effects of the Covid-19 pandemic among many families in Lagos State. “We commended and appreciate the great work governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been doing, since the outbreak of the pandemic.
He said a great leader is known during time of crisis , as Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated an uncommon leadership trait, saying that the church was not just supporting the state government physically, her prayers are also assured. “We are proud of Sanwo-Olu. We pray that God will continue to give our leaders sound health and wisdom , as they lead the state. We know that we will overcome this challenge soonest.”
Olumakaiye challenged other privileged people in the state to support those who are adversely hit by the lockdown order by both the state and Federal governments. “We would be deceiving ourselves if we ever imagine that government can meet all the needs of its citizens, it is impossible. No government in the world meets the needs of all the citizens. On our own, we would continue to offer our own assistance to complement the efforts of government, if we see ourselves as one family together we can fight this battle and we will win the battle.
He said the provision of the food items to the poor became necessary because as a caring organisation, the church realised that it cannot be indifferent to the plights of the many challenged masses of the state. That is why the diocese of Lagos is partnering with many other well -meaning Nigerians. We have previously done it, and we will continue to reach out to those who, ordinarily would not have any one to care for them.”
He said the desire for this first instalment was to reach out to a minimum of 1000 families, and neighbours where the church’s various parishes are located. “Hopefully we have the hope this whole thing will last for too long because if we have a church in a place, it is our responsibility as a church and living organisation, to attend to every resident, irrespective of their religion. Because the diocese is divided into smaller units which are known as archdeaconries that are further divided into parishes, where the actual people reside, we shared it across the archdeaconries and subsequently to the parishes, where the workers in those parishes will take it to the door steps of the beneficiaries.”
The bishop stated that since the lockdown various parishes and archdeaconries under the diocese have been feeding a minimum of 500 people every day, “So we will continue to do this, but this one is just to reach out to ones at this time especially as Easter is approaching, so that many families will have a pleasurable Easter celebration.”
Director of the Directorate of Welfare of the Lagos Diocese, Venerable Uche Ekwensi, specifically to meet the needs of the privileged.
He said since inauguration of the directorate on the15th of February this year, the church has been able to touch many lives, including those of about 200 widows across the diocese.
Ekwensi informed that said the programme was planned to hold on 11th of April, before COVID-19 pandemic, accelerated it. “We are doing a lot and will still have to do more because the pandemic has shown that we need to take care of the less privileged ones in the society.”
