According to the Black's Law Dictionary, 9th edition, nuisance is "A condition, activity, or situation (such as a loud noise or foul odour) that interferes with the use or enjoyment of property; esp., a non-transitory condition or persistent activity that either injures the physical condition of adjacent land or interferes with its use or with the enjoyment of easements on the land or of public highways...liability might or might not arise from the condition or situation"
No other definition could possibly better capture the situation at the Headquarters of the Lord's Chosen Church in Lagos last weekend when officials of the Lagos State government sealed off the church and prevented the worshippers from holding their usual Sunday service in the midst of garbage. Reports say that the action of the government was in order to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic in the area. I'd like to address a few issues arising from this rather embarrassing situation.
First of all, it is shocking to know that a place where people go to worship and/or praise God every Sunday or daily as the case may be, would be in such deplorable state. The church is supposedly a place where "believers" go to spend time with the "Almighty", the "King of kings", the "Lord of lords", the "Alpha and the Omega". I don't know about any other "believer" but one would have thought that since Christians most often than not shout at the top of their voices "Cleanliness is next to godliness", that they would actually live by what they preach. One would expect that as a true Christian, the temple of the Lord ought to be a place where you find joy and happiness, peace, and health of mind and body. One would expect that as Christians, we should be happy to declare like the Psalmist in Psalm 19 of the Scriptures "I was glad when I heard them say 'let us go to God's house'". In centuries past as we read in the Bible, it was the greatest of privileges for anyone to be chosen to build a temple for Yahweh. Do we not remember the story of Nehemiah who resigned from his prestigious job to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple which was in a deplorable state? Do we not remember the story of David and Solomon who spared no funds in ordering the best woods and materials for the building of the Temple? What is wrong with our generation? The situation at the Lord's Chosen Church is just one out of the thousands that have not yet come to public attention...sorry, did I say "not yet come to public attention"? Are there no faithfuls in the church, are the worshippers in that church and many others like it sheep and goats? No! They are human beings, they are the "public". For chrissakes, this church has tens of luxury buses with which it conveys its members from all parts of Lagos to its services every Sunday. There is no doubt that its members are dutiful payers of tithes and sowers of seed; yet each Sunday, they fail to see that they are centuries far from their God as a result of their filthy environment. It is a shame! They not only neglected their environment, they contributed massively to the filthiness of it. Haba! Even to construct proper toilets for worshippers is a problem?
Secondly, Let us analyse the action of the Lagos State government. Have they done the right thing? Did they act within the ambit of the law? Were they right in sealing off the church and preventing worshippers from holding their Sunday Service? Why did they have to wait till now; did they just learn about this nuisance? These are but a few questions one would ask. There are some that may even argue that the government's prevention of the worshippers from holding their Sunday service is a direct violation of the constitutional provision of freedom of association and worship. But let us not forget that there is a bigger picture...that of the 'purported' prevention of an epidemic which to me is a classic exploitation of the principle of public policy which when interpreted simply means, "for the greater good of the citizens of this State (who by the way have as much rights as you do, and deserve to enjoy healthy lives), we are shutting down your premises to prevent a health situation that we are probably not well equipped to handle until such a time you deem it necessary to purge yourselves of your filthiness"
Generally speaking though, the level of nuisance caused by our churches goes beyond that of filth. Following Black's law's definition, nuisance also includes loud noise. With all the churches we find everywhere and especially at residential areas, and with the sleepless nights I experience frequently in my house from the noise of "praise songs" blaring from the "Ahuja" speakers of the church just beside my house during their night vigil services, I am fully in support of the government's involvement in regulating the activities and locations of these churches. That is why I totally support the Enugu State government in their plan to demolish the Large temple of the Mountain of fire and Miracles Ministries erected on the popular Zik Avenue without appropriate approval. Afterall, The Church and the State should actually be partners in progress.
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