Lighthouse Mosque, Lekki, Lagos has fulfilled its promise by doling out a cash prize of two hundred thousand naira each to four fresh first class graduates from University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria respectively.
The Imam of the mosque, Alhaji Nojeem Jimoh took to his Facebook page on Saturday, February 1st, to make the announcement, while presenting a dummy check of 200, 000 each to the lucky winners.
The respected Islamic scholar was also the first ever to graduate with a first class from the department of Political Science, University of Lagos, in 1986.
The four beneficiaries are: AbdulHameed Obileye of Mechanical Engineering (UNILAG); Ibrahim Alimi of Mechanical Engineering (UNILAG); Hassan Salaudeen of Systems Engineering (UNILAG); Kamal Salisu of Computer Science (ABU).
While Obileye and Salisu reside at Lighthouse Estate, Lekki, Lagos; Salaudeen and Alimi are mentees to one of the residents of Lighthouse Estate, Mr Musa Idris Shehu, Head of IT, Oando Plc.
Muslim News also learnt that Alimi graduated with a staggering 4.98 CGPA; Obileye with 4.70; and and Salaudeen with 4.54; all on a scale of 5.00.
The last beneficiary of the gesture, Salisu’s final score was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report on Sunday, February 2, 2020.
In an interview with Muslim News, Hassan Salaudeen, one of the receipents of the cash prize who also doubled as the Amir of UNILAG Chapter of MSSN during his final year, was overwhelmed with joy as he expressed his excitement.
According to him, “AlhamduliLlah! I feel so excited especially when I am with my parents and I see that they are very happy about the feat. It’s also a thing of joy when I remember that my last session, being the Amir of MSSN UNILAG, wasn’t so easy and I was still able to achieve the feat.”
Graduating with a first class is the dream of every student in the tertiary institution. It does not come easy as it is often reserved for the best of the best. In the case of Salaudeen however, fervent prayer and remarkable seriousness saw him through.
“Ending up with a first class is no joke. But I can recall that some of the strategies I adopted included fervent prayers and a high level of seriousness. I prayed a lot to Allah right from the beginning of the session. I asked Allah for a 5.0 CGPA, but, AlhamduliLlah, I ended up with something very tangible.
“I also read a lot. I read for hours and I didn’t just read, I was always consistent. I ensured I read every single day. More so, I didn’t joke with tests, I saw them as exams. Also, I asked questions a lot from those in the level ahead of mine to know about the lecturers and their courses. In fact, when I was in year 5, I still consulted those that had graduated about our courses and lecturers,” he said.
Speaking with Muslim News on the reason for the award of cash prize to the students, Imam Nojeem Jimoh noted that it was in fulfillment of a pledge made by the estate parents some seven years ago.
“Seven years ago, the estate parents (all Muslims) at a youth meeting made a pledge to reward the first child(ren) in the estate to either complete the Qur’an or make a First class.
“Alhamdulillah, the first of such was achieved in 2016 and the first child to memorise the Qur’an was awarded a cash gift of N250k. This was on the 28th of February, 2016. His name is Abdullah Shobayo and he was 13 years old then.
“Three other children have since joined him in completing the Qur’an: Mubarak Amoo, Umar Shobayo and Naim Amoo.
“It was not until now that the first set of First Class graduates emerged. Only two of the four live in Lighthouse Estate – AbdulHameed Obileye and Kamal Salisu. They are the pride of the MSSN. May Allah bless and guide them all.
“The estate also acknowledges the role of Alhaji Nasrudeen Giwa who acted as mentor to AbdulHameed Obileye during his studies.
“The estate also shows its appreciation to Dr Saka Matemilola for facilitating these new award,” he added.