Lessons From The Synagogue

By Raymond Oise-Oghaede

It was a kind of rude shock when the news of the Synagogue Church building collapse filtered through. To some people, it is a clear indication that the self acclaimed ‘Miracle Worker and Man of God’ is not what he claimed to be after all. This is in view of the fact that numerous miracles and accurate predictions of some events have been credited to him in the past. They wondered why he did not foresee the incident that befell his church and likened him to a surgeon that cannot perform surgical operation on himself to replace his failed or bad heart.  To them, the leadership of the church should be held responsible for not following due process before embarking on construction of additional floors to the existing building. Some are of the opinion that the contractors did not follow specifications or that sub-standard materials must have been used. While some others posited that enemies of the church caused it, citing the hovering of a strange aircraft over the building some minutes before it caved in. These views are not surprising because our people are known to have quick answers to any problem even before investigations are carried out.

The incident generated and is still generating a lot of heat because of its catastrophic magnitude. Over a hundred lives were lost with most of them from South Africa. At this juncture, I would want to express my heartfelt condolences to all those that lost their loved ones. May the Almighty God grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. I also commiserate with the founder and members of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) including, the governments and people of the republics of Nigeria and South Africa.

As at the time of writing this review, the root cause(s) of the unfortunate incident had not been determined and this is very crucial. The outcome of the investigations not withstanding, it will not detract from the fact that a calamitous incident that will have a lingering sad memories has happened.

I am constrained, as a concerned observer, to use this medium to look at all the likely scenarios and try as much as possible to proffer suggestions and ways of averting a recurrence.

There is the insinuation that the building does not have government approval and or that there was no permit for the addition of more floors to the existing two-storey building. If this is the case, then it was an illegal venture which ordinarily should not be. The leadership of the church should therefore take the blame for not doing the needful in the first instance. It is a statutory obligation for approval to be obtained before embarking on such a project. One would have expected that an entity like the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) which boasts of a large number of the high and mighty within and outside the shores of this continent should not have been found in this kind of situation. Even if the founder and other leaders are engrossed in ministrations and some other things, members of the Building Committee should have complied with the requirements. However, the reasons why normal procedures were not followed call for concern. Perhaps, the process is so long and cumbersome (a situation which should be thoroughly addressed by the relevant authorities). It is  also common in this part of the world to see people embarking on constructions while simultaneously processing the approval. Others that should share in the blame are officials of the relevant agencies of government responsible for granting the necessary approval and the construction company/engineers handling the project. This is because the project is massive and the site is located in an area that is open and very conspicuous.

In addition, the fact that construction works have been going on for several months makes it an unforgivable offence for these agencies to claim ignorance. So, if it was discovered earlier that approval was not in place, what step(s) did they take to redress the shortcomings? Were they waiting for disaster to occur before they would move in when it was too late? Or, could it be that the officials were to look the other way? The answers to these questions would be unravelled with time.

The construction company/building engineers would also be culpable for not confirming approval before embarking on the project. This is where the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and all other relevant bodies/associations should come in and do the needful.

Also, there are insinuations about the use of substandard materials. This would rarely be the case considering the fact that the church has the wherewithal to acquire the best materials for the job, at least, to meet up with the standard of the existing structures, unless the builders compromised. In this case, the builders and the project managers would need to shed more light on what actually transpired.

There is also the possibilities that the incident could have been caused by an ‘an act of God’. In this circumstance, there is nothing anybody could do about it because it would have been beyond human control.

If at the end of the day, none of these factors is responsible, the possibility of a terrorist attack would not be out of place. More so, that the leader and some members of the church have drawn our attention to the strange plane that hovered over the building some minutes before the collapse. Considering the state of insecurity in the country today, this is a poser for the Ministry of Aviation and all relevant agencies to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of this insinuation. As the adage goes, “no sane man will go to bed when the roof top is on fire”.

At this point, it is also pertinent to look at some of the happenings that unfolded after the incident. It was alleged that some members of the church were hostile to the people that rushed to the scene to help the trapped victims. This is a very common phenomenon amongst diehard followers of religious sects in Nigeria. To them, non-members of their church or denominations are seen as infidels that must not be allowed to come too close to them. As it has been observed, perhaps, some of those that eventually died under the rubble would have been rescued alive. This is a very disheartening situation and should be discouraged forthwith. However, these followers could also hide under the cover that they prevented people from having access to the site because miscreants are known to loot and engage in unscrupulous activities rather than having any good intentions in such situations. Whatever be the reasons for their actions, this should not have been the case and must be discouraged going forward.

On another note, people should always avoid jumping into conclusions about the likely factors responsible for such incidents. After the building collapsed, there were talks about the ‘evil one’ or the devil being responsible. This type of positions can only distract and confuse the people the more rather than alleviate their pains. As the saying goes “que sera sera” which means, ‘what will be, will be’. We should learn to always exercise caution before making statements on issues like this. God Almighty, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscience is an awesome God that does things according to His wishes. We are humans and cannot question His authority. He makes us to know and not to know. His doings, in most cases, are, beyond human comprehension. He can use you today and decide to use another person tomorrow. As a result, I will enjoin the ‘Man of God’ to see this trying period as the hand work of God to test his faith. Please, go back to the scriptures and study the relationship between God and Moses. You will recollect that Moses was initially chosen to lead the people into the Promised Land (Canaan) but, God changed His mind eventually. This could be adduced to the fact that Moses strayed along the line. If God had revealed this particular incident to you before hand, you might have been full of yourself and strayed from His presence. So, your inability to predict it should not discourage you about your relationship with God.

Also, God allowed the devil to torment and visited Job with calamities just to prove and confirm his faithfulness. Job succeeded and he was richly blessed. You do not know what God wants to prove with this incident because it could have been worse. The number of casualties would have run into thousands if the property had been completed and fully occupied. So, my advice to you and families of the affected ones is to remain steadfast and continue to seek His face for comfort and directions.

From the foregoing, there is more to this incident than meets the eye. However, it is advised that the people should learn from it to prevent a recurrence; at least, from the human angle.

As it is now, some people are waiting and watching sentimentally, to see to the end of the matter. While they are anxiously looking forward to the prosecution and conviction of leaders of the church and or officials of the relevant agencies of government and others that were directly or indirectly involved in the building collapse, the fact remains that, the lessons from the incident should be imbibed and used wisely.

Once again, I pray that the departed will rest in perfect peace. God in His infinite mercy will comfort those that they left behind and also heal those that sustained injuries.

•Oise-Oghaede wrote from Lagos. •E-mail: [email protected]