The Lagos State chapter of Al-Muminaat (The Believing Women Organisation) on Saturday held its 26th Annual Convention where its outgoing executives gave account of stewardship after two years of meritorious and selfless service to the society.
At the event held at the TMC Da’wah Centre, Ijesha, Lagos, which had in attendance executives across the 21 local governments in the State, the National Officers and other dignitaries, the Muslim women organisation emphasised the need for collective responsibilities towards achieving organisational roles.
In her welcome speech, Hajiah Bushrah Adeagbo-Jubril said, “Despite all odds, starting from the COVID-19 pandemic which rocked the world in the first year of this administration, we remained focused and carried on. We would not have been able to do the little we did if not for the efforts of you, all my dear sisters that believed that the work of Allah will continue as we give no room for complacency.”
She, therefore, implored the members of the society not to relent in discharging their responsibilities despite the challenges bedeviling the world.
“I am imploring us, all my dear sisters not relent in our efforts amidst various challenges facing the society, ranging from insecurity (socioeconomic, kidnapping, banditry, etc.), unemployment, lawlessness, and so on. We need to be dynamic in approach, be that strong Muslimah who is strong in faith, physically, emotionally and psychologically fit, time conscious as well as being beneficial to others,” she stated.
Muslim News learnt that apart from the successful execution of their regular laudable programmes most of which were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the remarkable feats achieved by the outgoing executives is the creation of additional active branches in the state and widening the financial base of the chapter.
“Not only that, almost all the local governments now have a presence on social media, especially Whatsapp, Facebook, and many others where we reached out to our members across the State. There was the need to launch ourselves on social media. Initially, most of our programmes were done physically, but with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, using social media became necessary,” Hajiah Nimotallah Badmus-Olanlege, the out-going General Secretary of the Lagos chapter said, in an interview with Muslim News.
Speaking to the topic of the Convention, “Our Individual and Collective Responsibilities Towards Achieving Organisational Roles”, the Guest Speaker, Hajiah Zainab Ahmad-Taiwo noted that to take Al-Muminaat to the highest level, members have individual and collective roles to play.
“Individual executives and members should know what we owe the organisation. For those that are executives, we should work together to achieve the goals,” she said.
Hajiah Ahmad-Taiwo, one-time Amirah of the Mushin Branch who has also held several positions within the Chapter lauded the efforts of the outgoing executives, noting that they have succeeded in complementing the efforts of their predecessors with laudable programmes during the period under review.
She advised the incoming executives who will be formally announced at the annual Al-Muminaat Training Forum (ATF) holding in December, to “concentrate on the affairs of its members for effectiveness and efficiency in carrying out organisational roles without hindrance.
“Some of the excuses from members are usually the issue of finance, economy or getting something done. I will also advise the incoming executives to look for a way to create jobs or opportunities to empower its members. That goes a long way to make them active and be more committed to the association,” she said.
The National Amirah of Al-Muminaat, Alhaja Nimotullah AbdulQadri, who also graced the event harped on collectivism, saying it has brought a lot of improvements and progress to the organisation.
According to her, “You see what an individual can achieve, when we are two or more, we achieve more than that. So, it has brought a lot of progress to Al-Muminaat. Take for instance, in the area of humanitarianism, recently, we had to go and visit some of our correctional centers. We made a lot of impact there. The Muslim women prisoners felt the impact of Al-Muminaat. We went as far as taking up some cases with some of our sisters there and through our organisation, we were able to liberate some of them.
“Another one is the issue of the borehole. Collectively, we decided that there are some areas in Lagos State that need water. So, Al-Muminaat as an organisation had to form a committee under Lagos State that sought funds. You can see that in the report and we are still going to do some other ones.
“When people do things individually in an organisation, one of the challenges they may actually be facing is achieving their objectives. United we stand. If they can come together, it will make it so easy to achieve our objectives. You will see that Al-Muminaat is one of the organisations that believe in collaboration. During World Hijab Day, you see us collaborating with other Islamic organisations because we believe in collaboration and unity. With unity, we can actually achieve a lot.”
