Our view

It was such a sad moment as bodies of the Nigerian building collapse were brought back home, save for the others have been unaccounted for so far.

It was a test of true faith as Africans as many a family battled with the notion of either opening the coffins to view their loved ones for the last time or to abide by the set rules not to open them as had been prescribed upon them for health and emotional reasons.

Granted, it was reasonably so for the above reasons and more so it has been widely stated that many were disfigured and unrecognisable. It would have left an unhealable image in the minds and hearts of the bereaved forever.

It was a taste of faith in what one believes in and in what one is truly is because I heard many a family member make mention that according to their culture as Africans, a body is viewed before it is finally buried.

I believe some did break the rules and viewed the bodies.

When speaking of culture, one is taken astray because it is widely known that according to charismatic faith, they desist any connection with culture and African rituals, but it had to be the occurrence death that sort of brought about reality in many of the families because it is true, once you die, you meet your true creator and need to be realistic about it.

There has also emerged lately that no matter what, the spirits of our dear loved ones need to be collected from the scene of death, otherwise they will never find peace.

That means, in essence, that individual families need to travel to Lagos, Nigeria, to conduct those rituals. Again, this is a test of true faith, whether Christian, Western or African.

The other question would be, who is to foot the bill, the government or the church under Pastor TB Joshua? We lost breadwinners here and they all passed away in the call of duty, serving the Lord.

The government has done its sterling job thus far in the repatriation process, memorial services and burials in some cases where there was a need.

My view would be for the church to also play its role apart from the financial assistance in some cases, but to assist in the collection of the spirits from the scene of death and never allow their spirits to wonder, as some soothsayer recently said that those wondering spirits may cause further catastrophes in that country.

Prevention is better than cure.

Pastor TB Joshua is of African descent, surely he understands culture and rituals – he can come to their rescue at this moment in time.