The national co-ordinator of Concerned Advocates for Good Governance (CAGG), barrister Olusegun Bamgbose, has advised Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to reopen centres of worship in the country immediately, the Daily Post reported.
According to the publication, Bamgbose said that religious institutions were the powerhouses of the country and that continuing to shut down sacred places might spell doom for Nigeria’s political leaders.
The senior lawyer, in a statement seen by Daily Post on Monday, also urged the federal government to reopen schools in batches.
“It’s no doubt that the temporary closure of religious activities in Nigeria was due to the ravaging pandemic, coronavirus. The virus has actually not subsided. People are actually dying every day. The number of infected persons is rising every day. This is no doubt a sad development.”
He said while the lockdown was undoubtedly necessary to delay the spread of the virus, it had become necessary for the federal government to declare mosques and churches open for normal services, he said.
He said the nation would have ceased to be united had it not been for the prayers of the Muslims and Christians, and that places of worship should reopen no later than June 19 to avert “disaster”.
As regards schools and tertiary education, Bamgbose said they should be reopened and that students should be allowed to write their exams.
“The indefinite closure of schools may be counterproductive,” he said.
According to the latest figures supplied by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country has 313 new coronavirus infections, bringing the tally to 7,839.
Some 226 people have died of complications related to Covid-19, while 2,263 have recovered.