By Abdul-Mumin Abdul-Quadir
* MTN CFO, Verraki partner urge participants to pursue excellence, character and impact
For a generation entering workplaces being reshaped by artificial intelligence, globalisation and intense competition, the question is no longer whether young Muslims can rise to the top, but whether they can do so without leaving their values behind.
That question was at the heart of the maiden Young Professionals Programme (YPP) of the Guild of Muslim Professionals (GMP), held on Saturday, September 12, 2026, in Ikeja, Lagos, where young Muslim professionals were challenged to pursue global relevance, career excellence and leadership without compromising their faith and identity.
Held under the theme, “The Ascend Experience,” the event brought together young professionals, fresh graduates and other participants for conversations on leadership, career development, identity, spiritual well-being, relationships, mentorship and service.
The programme’s theme speech, “Becoming a Global Muslim Professional,” was delivered by Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, CFO, of MTN Nigeria, Mr Modupe Kadri, while Managing Partner of Verraki Partners, Mr Niyi Yusuf, delivered the keynote, “Rooted Yet Rising: Career Growth Without Losing Your Values.”
‘Do not merely become employable’
Kadri said being global was not about having a foreign accent, travelling widely or working for a multinational company, but about possessing skills, judgement and character that create value across different environments.
He challenged the participants to master their professions, communicate effectively, understand the wider business environment and continue learning as their industries change.
“Do not ask for a Muslim discount on professional standards,” he said, stressing that Muslim professionals should compete at the highest level on the basis of competence and excellence.
The CFO MTN Nigeria traced his own career journey from economics and chartered accountancy through PwC to corporate leadership and the boardroom, telling participants that a degree should be regarded as a starting point rather than a destination.
“Your degree is a starting point. Your capacity to learn determines the ceiling,” he said.
Kadri organised his message around the ASCEND framework: Anchor, Stretch, Character, Engage, Navigate and Deploy.
He explained that professionals must remain anchored in their identity and values, stretch themselves by developing competence, build character, engage intelligently with people and environments, navigate challenges and ultimately deploy their success for meaningful impact.
On identity, he asked participants to consider what they would never trade for access, what Allah expects from them in professional spaces and who they remain when nobody is impressed by them.
“If the room changes you before you change the room, you were never anchored,” he said.
He also warned against comfort, comparison, compartmentalisation and credentialism, urging participants to focus on building career capital through impact, character, relationships, communication, judgement and professional mastery.
His challenge was simple: “Do not merely become employable. Become consequential.”
‘Character opens doors, competence keeps you there’
Yusuf, in his keynote, told participants that the critical question was not simply whether they should rise professionally but who they were becoming as they rose.
He said career success should be measured beyond salary, titles and visibility, arguing that genuine success combines excellence, influence, purpose, integrity and impact.
“The faster the world changes, the more important your anchors become. Skills, industries and roles will keep changing. Your principles are what carry over,” he said.
The Verraki partner noted that young professionals would inevitably encounter situations in which their values could be tested, including social events, client engagements, workplace pressure and demands to compromise ethical standards.
He urged them to distinguish between their values, preferences and methods.
Values such as honesty, trust, justice, faith obligations and integrity, he said, should remain non-negotiable, while preferences such as industry, location and job title could change and professional methods could evolve with technology and circumstances.
Yusuf also cautioned against chasing titles instead of capability, saying yes to every opportunity, allowing relationships and faith to deteriorate, comparing one’s early career with another person’s advanced career, choosing visibility over impact and trading integrity for access.
“Character opens doors. Competence keeps you in the room,” Yusuf said.
He encouraged participants to build a personal operating system around faith, values, people, purpose and habits, while cultivating mentors, sponsors and role models.
“Career growth navigated alone is career growth navigated blind,” he said.
GMP: ‘Ascend but do not ascend alone’
In his welcome address, Chairman, Interim Management Team of GMP, Mr. Ibraheem Tiamiyu, said the YPP was conceived from a fundamental question: What kind of Muslim professionals are needed for the future?
He said the answer was professionals who are excellent in their fields, intellectually curious, spiritually grounded, capable of creating meaningful impact and globally competitive without losing their Islamic identity.
According to him, the programme was created to address the false perception that Muslims must choose between succeeding professionally and remaining committed to their religion.
“We have tons of brilliant young Muslims who are unable to excel at their career and religion at the same time. They believe that they have to forgo one for the other, but that’s untrue,” he said.
Tiamiyu pointed to successful Muslim professionals who had reached the highest levels of their careers without compromising their Islamic principles.
He urged participants to engage deliberately, ask difficult questions, build meaningful relationships and identify areas where they needed to grow.
According to him, the true value of the programme would not be measured by how inspired participants felt at the end of the day but by the decisions and actions they took afterwards.
“The YPP is built around five pillars: Leadership and Identity, Strategic Relationships, Lifelong Learning, Spiritual Well-being, and Volunteerism and Impact”, he said.
Tiamiyu said professional and spiritual growth both require community and urged participants to see the YPP as the beginning of a relationship with GMP rather than the end of a programme.
“Ascend but do not ascend alone. Grow in competence. Grow in character. Grow in faith. Grow in influence. Grow in your capacity to serve,” he said.
Make your career an act of worship, pursue excellence: Imam Jamiu
The afternoon session also brought the spiritual and professional dimensions of the programme together through a session on “Barakah and Burnout” delivered by Islamic Scholar, Community Leader and Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Imam Ridwan Jamiu, PhD.
Imam Jamiu challenged participants to reconsider the purpose behind their careers, ambitions and professional achievements, stressing that a Muslim’s ultimate purpose is to serve Allah.
“Our main purpose on earth is to serve Allah, and as such, everything we do should be treated as worship,” he said.
He explained that careers, talents, professional opportunities and personal potential should serve as means of attaining Allah’s pleasure in this world and the hereafter.
He urged participants to pursue excellence not only in their professional lives but also in their spiritual lives, personal development and relationships.
“Excellence is non-negotiable. It is the making of a Muslim,” he said.
Imam Jamiu also encouraged the young professionals to be useful to those around them by volunteering for noble causes and engaging in service to humanity.
His message reinforced the programme’s central argument that professional achievement and spiritual growth do not have to compete with each other when success is pursued with the right intention.
Psychologists urge Muslim professionals to overcome distraction
The programme also featured a fireside conversation titled “Becoming,” moderated by Nusaybah Abdul-Fatah and featuring psychologists Dr Fatai Olajobi and Hajia Oyinkansola Fatima Momoh.
The discussion focused on identity, discipline, personal development, distraction, confusion, inadequacy, self-awareness and the importance of taking action.
Momoh said Muslim women in particular could face difficult questions about identity and belonging, urging participants to pay attention to feelings of persistent unease when making major personal or professional decisions.
“Pull out before you get carried away by the storm, because that feeling of unsettlement won’t leave,” she said.
Olajobi, meanwhile, warned young professionals against excessive overthinking and what he described as “analysis paralysis.”
He urged participants to set goals, take action, choose their circles carefully and avoid using mobile devices in ways that undermine their growth.
He also described “grace” as involving both divine favour and personal effort, encouraging participants to combine reliance on Allah with disciplined action.
Mentors offer practical career guidance
The programme further provided participants with opportunities to interact directly with experienced professionals through a mentorship roundtable covering technology, entrepreneurship, career navigation, the creative economy and financial literacy.
Mentors included Elias Durosinmi, Toyin Kekere-Ekun, Dr Zara Modibbo, Kola Osinowo and Sheriff Adekoya.
The sessions allowed participants to discuss professional specialisation, competence, values, career choices and the challenges of navigating contemporary workplaces.
The youth are the future and legacy of the Ummah, Don
University of Lagos don and GMP Board of Trustees member, Prof Tajudeen Yusuf, expressed delight at the turnout of young people, describing their participation as an indication of the importance of investing in the next generation.
“This is a great development and I’m overjoyed because the youth came out en masse for this event. We owe them a lot,” he said.
He urged senior Muslim professionals to guide younger people by becoming examples they could emulate.
“We should let them know that they can achieve what many of us couldn’t. They are the future and legacy of the Ummah and they’re our responsibility,” he said.
Yusuf also called on Muslim professionals who are not yet members of GMP to join the organisation and contribute to its work.
“Let’s do good work together,” he said.
Participants commend organisers
Participants said the programme gave them a fresh perspective on combining professional ambition with identity and faith.
Tifayl Adelakun described the experience as “mind-blowing,” saying the speakers had helped participants confront questions around identity.
“If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything,” he said, adding that one of his major takeaways was the need to maintain an identity that could be defended.
He said it was his first GMP event and praised the organisation for creating a platform where young Muslims could learn, connect and grow.
Fresh engineering graduate, Aminat Ismail, said she attended to connect with like-minded people and find individuals who could guide her career journey.
She described the experience as “very amazing” and commended the organisers.
Other distinguished attendees included IT specialist, Yusuf Aweda and veteran journalist, Alhaji Tajudeen Adebanjo.
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