By Lanre Adesanya
A Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Biodun Olulana has expressed the readiness of the church to partner with the Lagos State Government on how to effectively rid the state of waste disposed indiscriminately .
Olulana, the Assistant Pastor In-Charge of RCCG, Lagos Province 55 and the Pastor In-charge of Peniel Assembly Zonal Headquarters Oworonsoki, said that it was important for the residents of the state to embrace cleanliness to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.
The Pastor made the statement while speaking with newsmen during the maiden edition of the church’s environmental sanitation programme tagged ‘I’m Possible’ on Saturday 12th May, 2018 that the people should not leave everything for the government.
Olulana stated that the Lagos State Government could make massive trucks available for the project so that the people could bring out their wastes and put them there.
He said that the project is called ‘I’m Possible’ because, according to him, rather than saying things are impossible in Lagos State or Nigeria, the people could say it is possible.
The man of God stressed that the trucks hired for the project cost money, and that the work is voluntary, “people are not paid to do this. The church got the gloves themselves to encourage the people to be part of it,” he said.
According to him, “We are just trying to fulfil God’s mandate for the church. The mission, through our father in the Lord, Pastor E. A Adeboye directed all of us to be involved in Christian Social Responsibility (CSR).
“Today was earmarked to lead others on how to keep our environments clean and that is why the church has taken it upon itself to make sure that we clean the street from one end to the other. “We told our neighbours to bring out their wastes so that we can help clear them. We can say that the project is divine because cleanliness is next to Godliness. Since God is holy, He wants everything around him to be clean.
“This inspired us to get into the act of cleanliness. It is the mandate of the church for us to be involved in that social responsibility,” he said.
The man of God stressed that the project was one aspect of its CSR, and that the church is involved in feeding, medical care and educational support amongst others.
He revealed that it was the first time the church was getting involved in massive environmental sanitation, but that they had been doing it on a micro level in the past.
His words: “We decided to clean the entire Miyaki Road in Oworonsoki. The lesson is clear, to be godly, we need to be clean. Without holiness no man can see God. We need to be clean in and out.
“Also, the Lagos State Government is interested in the cleaning of the environment. This is another way the church is getting involved in lending a helping hand to the government. The government has cancelled the monthly environmental sanitation, but we want them to know that we are concerned, we want to partner with them on this.
“After today, everybody will definitely make their environment clean.
“Everyone must be involved in cleaning, when the gutters are dirty, they breed mosquitoes and this causes malaria.
“Once the environment is clean, people will live because anything can happen once someone is ill.”