– Commissions madrasah classes with modern facilities
The University of Lagos Muslim Community (UMC) on Friday organised a special event to honour its members who recently bowed out of the institution after outstanding service years.
The event which held at the Islamic Center Hall, UNILAG Central Mosque, Main Campus, Akoka was also dedicated to celebrating members of staff both in the teaching and non-academic cadres that recently got elevated in the University.
The four retirees included the former Chairman of the UMC and Professor of Sociology, Lai Olurode; Professor of Statistics, Abdur Rasheed Kola Ojikutu; Professor of Sociology, Adebayo Ninalowo and the Deputy University Librarian and Head of Readers’ Services Department, University of Lagos Library, Dr. Halima Sadia Egberongbe.
A list of members with new appointments obtained by Muslim News included Prof. Olufemi Saibu (Director, Quality Assurance); Prof. Akanbi Ilupeju (Incoming Dean of Arts); Prof. Adeola Sulaiman (Incoming Dean of Management Sciences).
Others are Prof. Hakeem Amuda (Director CITS); Prof. Alabi Soneye (Outgoing Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies) who was not honoured when appointed; and Prof. Hikmot Koleoso (First Female Muslim Professor of Estate Management).
Muslim News reports that all the retired members were present at the Islamic Center Hall where the celebration took place except Prof. Ojikutu who joined virtually as he was out of the country.
The Muslim Community also commissioned the extension of its madrasah (Arabic/Islamic School), equipped with brand-new modern facilities.
The Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Rahmon Ade Bello; the 11th Vice Chancellor of the institution, who commissioned the madrasah facilities, commended UMC for the initiative which he said will aide learning of the Qur’an, Arabic and encourage other students to join.
“Alhamdulillah for the UMC and the management for the creating this beautiful and positive learning center. When children come to learn, they want to do so by examples. They want to see what is around them. And with this, learning of the Qur’an and Arabic has been made easy. They will learn through the screens and from their teachers. It’s a laudable effort,” he said.
The event featured a special Jum’ah service which was conducted by one of the University Chief Imams, Prof. Tajudeen Yusuf.
While quoting Surah Hadid, Qur’an 57: 20-24, Prof. Yusuf reminded the congregation that no stage of life is permanent, adding that, “whatever position we find ourselves should be used well because we are writing our own history.
“If we are always mindful of Allah’s injunctions, we can rest assured that our marks would be good and Aljannah Firdaus will be ours,” he noted.
Chairman of UMC, Prof. Hakeem Olaniyan, said the event was a longstanding tradition and expressed his joy at its sustenance by the Muslim community.
He said, “Today, we welcomed back our retired mentors including the former chairman of the UMC (Prof Olurode), our former Imam (Prof Bidmus), among others. We also celebrated our colleagues who have been given new appointments by the university. It was a happy occasion.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Prof. Olaniyan told Muslim News that he was delighted because they had longed to honour the retirees
“I feel happy about the event. This is not the first. We have a tradition of honouring our heroes at UMC. I am happy we continued the legacy. For some of the retirees, we’ve been planning to have them a long time ago. Now that Allah has made it possible for us to realise our aim, what else do we do than thank him.
“There was also a special prayer for them. We are Muslims; everything we do, we add prayers to it. So, there was a special prayer for both the retirees and members with new appointments.”
The Chairman noted that some existing facilities were also upgraded, urging support for the project which he said would change the face of the madrasah.
“My expectation from the Muslim Community about the madrasah is that when you look at it, we have just two classes, compared to the size of the existing madrasah, you see that we are just starting. So, we desire to ensure that every classroom changes.
“We have drawn a plan for the utilisation of our land which is lying fallow and is largely waterlogged. If we can construct that place and put in facilities like this there, we would have achieved a lot. The most important thing, however, is that we need those who can help so that we can replicate what we have in the two new classrooms in others,” he noted.
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