Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev Henry Ndukuba has alluded to why there were no dead bodies in the streets of Nigeria as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as predicted by the international community.
Primate Ndukuba made the submission on Sunday during the 2020 confirmation/enrollment service of the Gudu archdeaconry that was held at The Basilica of Grace, Gudu District, Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).
Recall that in the wake of COVID-19, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of US billionaire Bill Gates had said the coronavirus pandemic “will make Africa have dead bodies lying on the streets”.
“Covid-19 will be horrible in the developing world,” she said, adding “My heart is in Africa. I am worried. The only reason why the reported cases of the coronavirus disease in Africa is low now is most likely because there have not been wide testing of people. The disease is going to bite hard on the continent. I see dead bodies in the streets of Africa”.
However, Primate Ndukuba said already there was no more regards for lives and that the sanctity of lives have faded away in the country, stressing that it would have been worrisome if the COVID-19 pandemic added more deaths as predicted by the international community.
He stated that in the time passed, when people see a coffin, they panic in fear but that in the Nigeria of today, people would see a dead body in the street and still move about their normal business.
“First, we want to appreciate God for His faithfulness in keeping us alive through this year 2020. In fact this year is almost over, and as somebody said, he prayed that nothing like 2020 will come again in our lives. I didn’t say amen to that because God proved Himself.
“When the international community was saying that by April, May, in the streets of Nigeria people would be dropping dead, God showed us mercy. Because if it were to be according to what they predicted, I believe Nigeria would have been very bad and worse off.
“But, God knew that not even our leadership would have been able to do much. People are slaughtered and nothing is done not to talk of when somebody dies without any notice.
“And moreover, in Nigeria, the sanctity of life has faded away. Before, when we were young, when you see a coffin, whether there is a corpse inside or not, you run away, not to talk of seeing a corpse by the roadside.
“But today, walk around our streets, walk around our cities, you may even see corpses and people will pass as though it were the carcass of a dog. If not for the mercies of God, Nigerians would have been destroyed,” Ndukuba said.
The Primate admonished Nigerians to continue to observe COVID-19 protocols, stressing that the impact of the pandemic is still very much with us.