• Elect honest, appreciative and approachable leaders – Imam Jamiu
• As Prof Akintola canvasses Southwest Muslim President
Muslim faithful in the Lekki area of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria and its environs gathered on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at the Jubrin Ayinla Multipurpose Hall of Lekki Central Mosque, Lekki, for the Quarterly Dawah Workshop.
The workshop, the last edition for the year 2022, was organised at a time Nigeria attained 62 years of Independence.
“Independence Day, just like a birthday is a day for reflection and assessment of the progress recorded in the life of the celebrant.
“It is also an avenue to chart a new course on how to proceed in future,” said the Chairman of the workshop, Alhaji Ariyo Olusekun.
In his welcome address, Alhaji Olusekun expressed gratitude to the organisers for giving him the responsibility to chair the workshop.
The Quarterly Dawah Workshop, which has its theme: “Role of Muslims in Nation Building” was attended by an array of eminent personalities and discussants such as the Director, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Prof. Lakin Akintola; Mudir, ZamZam Academy, Dr. Munirdeen Salaudeen Ar-Riyaadi, Director of Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative, Hajiah Mutiat Orolu-Balogun and the host Imam, Sheikh Ridwan Jamiu, among others.
Alhaji Ariyo noted that the theme of the workshop was appropriate, saying it could not have come at a better time than now that the nation is celebrating its 62nd independence anniversary.
He said, “It is also an opportunity for us (Muslims) to be able to reflect on our individual and collective roles in building this great country.”
While setting the mood for the discussion, the Chairman described “nation building” as a process whereby a society with diverse origins, doctrines, languages, cultures and religions comes together within the boundaries of a sovereign state.
He said there must be some essential elements when talking about building a nation like a unified constitutional and legal dispensation, national public infrastructure system, integrated natural economy and shared values.
“A situation where a few people are comfortable and the masses are struggling is not good for nation building,” he noted.
Imam Ridwan urges Nigerians to elect honest, approachable leaders
The Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Sheikh Ridwan Jamiu, in his presentation tagged: “Good Governance and Leadership – the Islamic Perspective”, charged political leaders and other relevant stakeholders in positions of authority across the country to appoint honest, appreciative and approachable leaders.
The respected Islamic scholar also noted that a leader must be forgiving, assertive, positive, disciplined, courageous, kind and just.
Sheikh Jamiu emphasized the “personality of the leader”, as one of the four foundations of good governance during the well-attended lecture.
He enumerated other foundations for good governance including honest advisors, institutional infrastructure, and responsible followership.
Imam Jamiu urged Nigerians, especially Muslims to be careful in electing the leaders, especially as the 2023 general elections approach, saying the considerations as prescribed in Islamic jurisprudence include commitment, trustworthiness and character.
It’s the turn of Southwest Muslims to produce the next President – Prof Akintola
in his presentation, the Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof. Lakin Akintola reiterated that it is the turn of South-West Muslims to produce the next President of Nigeria.
Akintola argued that as it is the turn of Southern Nigeria to produce the next President, it is also the turn of South-West Muslims.
He decried what he called the age-long marginalisation of Muslims in the region, saying out of 17 governors in the region, only one, the governor of Osun State is a Muslim who recently lost his re-election bid.
“Yet they are crying Islamisation and Fulanisation,” he said.
Akintola recalled that South-West leaders who had the opportunity to occupy Aso Rock, the seat of power, either as President or Vice-President were non-Muslims.
“In 2023, it is the turn of a Yoruba Muslim to be the President of Nigeria,” even as he tackled a prominent Yoruba Group, Afenifere, for backing a South-Easterner in the 2023 election.
Akintola insisted that Muslims have been marginalised in Nigeria from years immemorial, noting that Muslims have been the victims of major politically motivated killings in Nigeria.
He recalled the January 1966 coup that claimed the lives of the first Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and former Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello who were both Muslims.
According to him, they were never found wanting for corruption because they were tested and trusted yet they were killed in the coup led by a South-Easterner.
Addressing opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by the ex-Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, he said the former number three citizen lacked the moral right to talk about equity and fairness, saying he could not tolerate the presence of Muslims in his Bogoro Local Government.
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