The Periscope reporter
* Don’t blackmail our Imams with monthly alert, threatening their imaan, forcing covid-19 vaccine on them – worshippers.
* Imams aren’t only those who receive monthly alert, start with those who feed fat on the state’s lean treasury – social commentator
* Why the emphasis on Imams, their deputies and Adhans, is their ulterior motive in the surrounding covid-19 vaccines? – Scholar
* Deputy governor, being the Chairman, Covid-19 containment committee and the governor must be the first to be inoculated – Adhan
* Emirs, Chairman Council of Ulamas should be the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccines before the Imams – faithful
* Government ought to concentrate more on flattening the curve of insecurity than covid-19 vaccination – Imam
The inclusion of Imams, deputy Imams and Adhans among the first category of people to receive Covid-19 vaccine in Kano has instigated floodgate of reactions.
Covid-19 vaccines, having arrived Kano, the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is quoted as saying that “Imams, deputy Imams and Adhans will receive the vaccination since they have been receiving monthly alert and have not registered any complaint regarding the alert”.
Commenting, some scholars in the state said it was clearly uncritical for the governor to publicly announced that the leaders in the mosques should be the first to be inoculated because they received monthly alert of payment without failure.
“This is akin to blackmail, kind of threatening the imaan of the Imams and punching on their fundamental human rights to choice and decision.
“Come to think of it, why the emphasis on Imams, their deputies and Adhans? It left us to wonder whether or not there is ulterior motive surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine,” the scholar would say.
Some analysts have interpreted Ganduje as impliedly suggesting that having the Imams received the Covid-19 vaccine would make the followers to key in to it as well.
The explanation could however not be persuasive enough to some of those who would argue that “for governor Ganduje to make the Covid-19 vaccines popular among the people of Kano, he ought to have included the Emirs and Chairman, Council of Ulamas among the frontline category”.
Some people asked why should the mosques leaders be among the frontline category for the Covid-19 vaccine when they have no direct contact, are not among the containment committee and are not medical and health workers?
If for leading prayers in our mosques, the Imams, their deputies and Adhans are joined as the frontline category for Covid-19 vaccination, then the entire worshippers who observe congregational prayers with the Imams ought to be included.