Four (4) Years after COVID-19 Pandemic: Reviewing the Experiences of the Anglican Church of Nigeria in the Light of Church-State relations

Abstract

Conversations on church-state relations in Nigeria have mainly been negotiated around the disposition of Nigeriaas a secular state, the doctrine of subordination of the church to state laws and mutual understanding and co-operation. Adopting qualitative approach and descriptive narrative the study specifically assessed how thedisposition of the leadership of the church coordinated the experience and enhanced compliance of its members togovernment directives during COVID-19 pandemic. Data for the study were collected using participantobservation and key informant interview (KII). Data were generated from; (i) letters from the Primates, (ii)websites of church of Nigeria (CON) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), (iii) interview of KeyInformants in dioceses south-East of Nigeria and (iv) participant observations. The findings reveal that churchleaders influenced the extent their members responded to state directives, and thereby complemented government’sefforts in reducing the spread of the disease. However, state’s use of security forces to enforce compliance signaledmistrust. This suggests that co-operation of the church with state was helpful in handling the outbreak of thedisease. Essentially, greater collaboration and cooperation between the church and the state in dealing with issuesof public concern in the future cannot be overemphasized.