Pastor Poju began by expressing gratitude to the health workers who are at the forefront in the battle of COVID-19. Below are his exact words during this remark.

“This is our 24th edition and it is the first time we will be holding this event without an audience. This is a digital event. We decided in spite of all the odds to hold what we can describe as probably our most wide spread Platform geographically and this is to show our spirits are more powerful than the Covid-19 virus and that the nation is united in its battle to defeat this pandemic.”

He continued, “I want to at this particular point thank all medical personnel and frontline workers in this battle against the epidemic. We as a nation have come to see the importance of your work and to see the importance of healthcare. I doubt whether any other thing apart from health related issues could have shut down the world the way this has.
My parents are both Medical doctors and I was born while they were living on the premises of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. I must have spent the first few years of my life there. UCH was regarded as one of the best 10 hospitals in the commonwealth region which included hospitals in England, Wales, Scotland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. That showed the kind of healthcare system in Nigeria then. This shows how much we have dropped the ball on healthcare in this nation and I hope this time will serve as a wake up call to the nation to lay emphasis upon rebuilding the infrastructure of the health system in this nation.”

He closed his remark by encouraging those watching via the Internet and TV, to prepare for the different sessions coming up.