Multiple award-winning Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of MTN Nigeria, Mr Modupe AbdulKareem Kadri, was in 2021 announced as the Nigerian Muslim Finance Person of the Year 2020.
Tagged #MNAwards, the award which celebrates Muslim achievers was organised by Rawshield PR Media, the Publisher of Muslim News, Nigeria’s most authoritative Islamic Newspaper.
Modupe Kadri’s emergence as the most outstanding Muslim finance personality of that year was a collaborative effort with the Muslim Professional Accountants’ Association of Nigeria, MPAAN.
Famously known as MAK by admirers, Mr. Kadiri was unavoidably absent at the colourful awards presentation held in September 2021 in Lagos, to receive his plaque and certificate.
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, the University of Lagos alumnus opened the door of his home to the Muslim News Team, who formally presented to him, the award he won a year ago.
The presentation led by the Newspaper’s publisher, Alhaji Rasheed Abubakar, was coming barely hours after the organisers announced the categories for this year’s edition of the #MNAwards.
Apart from the Muslim Finance Person of the Year, other categories include Muslim Media, Health, Teacher, Legal and Celebrity Persons of the Year (2021).
The #MNAwards also featured the Nigerian and Global Muslim Personalities, the overall category, which celebrates Muslims who have used their positions as leaders in government for oppressed Muslims, masses and humanity.
Mr. Kadri, a devout Muslim thanked the organisers of the awards, saying that it is not out of place to acknowledge Muslim achievers because it is a means of showing gratitude to them on behalf of the Ummah.
He said, “Typically, a Muslim does things not because he wants to be recognised. He just does things because it’s part of his Deen. However, it’s not out of place to recognise or acknowledge those who are contributing to the society.
“I think on behalf of the ummah, the #MNAwards is a means of showing gratitude to outstanding Muslims. It would also serve as motivation and encouragement to the younger ones and other members of the Muslim community,” he said.
The MTN chief advised the media to be honest and eschew bias against any group, adding that diversity must be respected.
According to him, diversity is not only about gender, there is also the religious angle to it.
“Gradually, the awareness is getting there. But we need to step up. We should not relent. We should not also give in to whatever we feel are detractors. At the end of the day, it would get better,” Mr Kadri charged Muslim News, a medium reputed to be the mouthpiece of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria and globally.
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“He has mentored and still mentors several young Muslims in the fields of accounting and finance as well as other fields. His desire to see young Muslims grow and achieve outstanding success is in no small measure as is evident in our interactions with him and some of his mentees who spoke with us. His combination of knowledge of the Qur’an and Hadith and other self-development books from various authors is worthy of emulation,” the statement concluded.
