President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, has disclosed that Nigeria’s Redeemers’ University, Ede, Osun State, is one of the leading institutions researching on the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Buhari’s aide disclosed this on Sunday via his Twitter handle, @toluogunlesi, while condemning the reactions of religious organizations toward the second wave of the coronavirus.
Ogunlesi expressed disappointment over the insistence of the “Nigerian Pentecostalism” in “keeping churches open and ignoring health protocols.”
He added that despite the criticism of the church against the Federal Government directives, the faith-based university is home to an African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), a leading research institute in infectious diseases and bioinformatics in Africa.
The center has been named by the World Health Organization (WHO) and African Centre for Disease Control to provide sequence, data analysis, and other technical support services to African countries.
According to Ogunlesi, Redeemers’ University, which is owned and controlled by one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria and the world, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is at the forefront of COVID-19 Research in Nigeria.
The President’s aide said, “The general response of Nigerian Pentecostalism to Covid has been disappointing—the insistence on keeping churches open and ignoring health protocols. But that’s only one side of the story. A faith-based University is at the forefront of Covid science/research in Nigeria.
“[I’ve picked my words carefully. I said “general response” – there have of course been the very commendable exceptions. As much as many prominent Pentecostal leaders have behaved disappointingly, there’ve also been some outstanding examples of pulpit respect for Covid protocols].
“Back to the main gist. @RedeemersUni is owned and run by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria and in the world. RU is home to an “African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases” — @acegid
“.@acegid is a leading research center in infectious diseases and bioinformatics in Africa – and as I said earlier at the forefront of #Covid19 research in Nigeria.”
