The ‘invisible enemy’ COVID-19 and the responses of Aladura churches in South West Nigeria

It is no news that the ‘invisible enemy’ with devastating and visible human mortality more than second World War casualties in America makes Covid-19 pandemic number one global health challenge of all centuries. Wuhan city, China has been identified as the first place of the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in December, 2019. However, due to the contagious nature of COVID 19 and its proliferation, on March 11, 2020 World Health Organisation declared it as a global pandemic. Meanwhile, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on 3 April, 2020 mandated that the general public, with or without COVID 19 symptoms, should wear face masks in public settings as well as social distancing in order to prevent the spread of the virus as part of the COVID 19 Protocols. The socio-economic, health and human fatality redefined socialcultural and religious practices which heralded ‘new normal’ in social lexicon as behavioural changes were imperative due to the contagious and incurable nature of COVID 19 before the advent of vaccines. In view of the novelty and fatal nature of COVID 19 and its variants lately, religious practitioners in the country's response are quite diverse, intriguing and interesting as some rationalize the pandemic through various conspiracy theories. This study examines the overview of change behavioural theories particularly Health Belief Model as its theoretical framework. The research data will be gathered through ethnography research method, interviews and participant observations while maintaining all Covid-19 protocols in accordance with regulations of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.