There was a slight disagreement between the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. (Dr.) Samson Ayokunle and the Deputy President,of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege over whether the COVID-19 vaccine should be made compulsory for Nigerians.
On Thursday in Abuja during a visit to Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Dr. Ayokunle commended the Federal Government on the management of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, but warned against forcing the people to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
His words, “We appreciate the Federal Government, especially the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for the way this stubborn virus has been managed. We want to urge the government to continue to encourage Nigerians to take the vaccine, but never to force or coerce people into doing so.”
In his response, going by a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Yomi Odunuga, the Deputy Senate President threw his weight behind compulsory COVID-19 vaccination, saying it is the only way to curtail the virus.
He emphasised the need for religious bodies to use their platforms to enlighten Nigerians on the need to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
By doing so, he said they would not only be protecting themselves against the pandemic but also their loved ones and those around them.
According to him, Nigeria is not the only country to adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies for their workforce, citing other jurisdictions like Canada, France and Italy to support his argument.
Said he: “Covid-19 is a public health issue. It is not an individual liberty issue. Because if options were to be given to people not to take the vaccine, to the extent that there will be no infection that will be okay. But you cannot say that you want your individual liberty protected by not being forced to take the vaccine while at the same time subjecting others to the possibility of picking up this very deadly virus. The challenge we have is that we still have a lot of people who are living in denial.
“It will help for the Church to help with this education that Covid-19 is real. And the vaccine is necessary. People should be forced to take the vaccine because I will feel very uncomfortable boarding a flight with somebody I am not sure has taken the vaccine. The Church should continue to promote this message for us,” he said.