The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged Nigerians especially Christians to pray to God, serve and do their best for the growth of their respective faith, State and nation at large.

Sanwo-Olu explained that the reality of the global Coronavirus pandemic showed Nigerians that there was a need for prayers.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Sanwo-Olu made the statement on Monday, September 7, at the opening ceremony of the Second Session of the 34th Synod of the Diocese of Lagos, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) at Our Saviour’s Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. 

The governor speaking at the event urged everyone to continue to pray for the state and country as we are not yet out of the pandemic.

Sanwo-Olu, who revealed that Monday, September 7, 2020, would be the first day in over six months that he is entering into “House of the Lord,’ thanked God for sparing his life and millions of Lagosians, especially members of the Diocese of Lagos to witness this year’s Synod even as Lagos State continues to see a reduction in the numbers of confirmed cases of coronavirus.

He said: “Following the rude, unexpected and difficult events of COVID–19 which we have all witnessed in the Year 2020 beginning from early December 2019 in Wuhan city of China, there can be no better befitting theme for our Synod than to “Pray, Serve and Grow (Romans 12:11 says ‘not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.’

“We are to pray in order to acknowledge our limitations as human beings because God remains sovereign. He remains the Supreme God; He knows it all and he is in charge of all circumstances we human beings might face.

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“Service to the Lord is serving one another; it is about loving one another, supporting one another. Serving the Lord is serving one another inactive ingredients of the work of our faith, which without one another, we are all dead as said James 2:17 ‘Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.’

“It is, therefore, pertinent to say that we can surely grow spiritually and in every wise when we pray and serve the Lord. As we begin to regain our lives again as a Church, State, and nation, the best way possible for us is to stand on our feet and to stand resolute in faith and believing that God is always with us.”

Stressing the importance of prayer and service to the growth of Lagos State, Governor Sanwo-Olu said: “For us in Lagos, to build a ‘Greater Lagos’, we certainly need to hold on to God. We certainly need to pray. We certainly need to use God as an instrument of contact for all of us because of what we have gone through in 2020.

“It was said that we would be taking dead bodies on the streets. But thank Almighty God, He kept all of us during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had less than two percent of fatality in Lagos when the statistics had projected we would have 10 to 15 percent.

“What we preach and heard in the Bible is here with us in today’s reality. COVID-19 has shown us in reality that we need to pray and this is why we will continue to pray in Lagos State. We need to serve wherever we find ourselves. Whatever we found our hands to do, let us do it well. Let us do it for the best of intentions because we do not know who is watching.

“And of course we need to grow. We need to grow in the house of God. We need to grow as people. We need to grow as a nation. We need to grow as a denomination. We need to grow as a Diocese.”

Sanwo-Olu also sympathized with those who lost a loved one during the pandemic while speaking on the number of cases that are gradually going down in the state.

The Lagos governor went on to note that losing someone is painful and the government will continue to do what is needed to keep people alive.

However, he appreciated the frontline health workers who had been working tirelessly during the pandemic.

It was earlier reported that the general overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, said the re-opening of churches played a part in the decrease of COVID-19 infections across Nigeria.