AS part of activities marking the 100th anniversary of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria (ADS), leaders and members of the Muslim organisation in Oyo State will today pay a courtesy visit to the state governor, Mr Seyi Makinde.
The delegation is also billed to visit the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Mohud Olalekan Balogun; the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheikh AbdulGaniy Abubakri Agbotomokekere and the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Dawud Akinola.
The National Vice President of the ADS (Oyo State council), Alhaji Waheed Ajao, announced this on Wednesday in Ibadan at a press conference on the centenary celebration of the organisation.
Ajao was flanked at the press conference by the state chairman of the ADS, Alhaji Hazeez Ladejo; the state secretary, Alhaji Teslim Adediran; the state missioner, Dr Bashir Elesinmeta and other leaders and elders of the organisation in the state.
The ADS National Vice President stated that there will be the foundation laying ceremony tomorrow for the Oyo State council secretariat in Apata, Ibadan, on Saturday with the turning of the sod to be performed by the president, Alhaji Abdul Rafiu Sanni.
He added that also on Saturday, there will be “Centenary Lecture and Awards” as well as “Interactive Session/Presidential Dinner with the Oyo State council and branch executives.”
Ajao, who said there will be “Women Council Programme in Oyo State” on Sunday, declared that interested state branches were free to have their “Centenary Awards” in November while “December is being reserved for the remaining national programmes.”
According to him, other national events will be done in Offa, Kwara State, where a convocation ceremony will be held for three sets of graduands of the ADS-owned Summit University.
He said the grand finale include a public lecture to be presided over by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who reigned as the Emir of Kano between 2014 and 2020.
Ajao stated that the national centenary awards are scheduled to take place in Lagos.
He noted that Ansar-Ud-Deen was established on 21 December, 1923 and expressed delight that the organisation had spread its tentacles across the country establishing schools and a tertiary institution named Summit University in Offa. The schools and the university, he said, are open to students of all faiths.
“We are proud to say that our schools have produced many lecturers, speakers, ministers, governors, commissioners, ambassadors and technocrats.
“I am highly delighted to add that Ansar-Ud-Deen Society has spread beyond the shores of Nigeria to Benin Republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland,” he said.
He explained that the centenary celebration started about two months ago at the national level with the showcasing of the organisation’s achievements “which are testaments to the lasting impacts it has had on communities across the globe.”
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