Justice Bola Babalakin’s children donate hall to Muslim Association of Nigeria

A 500-capacity hall donated by the children of the late retired justice of the Supreme Court, Bolarinwa Babalakin, to the Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ibadan branch, was inaugurated on Thursday in the Oyo State capital city.

The event, attended by prominent Islamic clerics, scholars and members of the Babalakin family, was also used to offer special prayers for the repose of the souls of Justice Babalakin, who died in 2021 and his wife, Alhaja Ramotu Babalakin, who predeceased her husband in 2004.

The late Justice Babalakin was the pioneer chairman of MAN and later the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association until his death in 2021.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the association, Alhaji Sulaiman Oladapo, cut tape to declare the hall open in the presence of the chairman of the association in Ibadan, Alhaji Rahman Abdul Ganiy, and the national president of the association, Professor D.A.Yagboyaju.

Other guests at the evet were Dr Wale Babalakin, Mr Tayo Babalakin, Hadrat Bodunde Aare (nee Babalakin) and Mr Tasleem Busari, SAN; the Chief Imam of the University of Ibadan, Professor AbdulRahman Oloyede; Professor Wole Abass and the Chief Missioner, Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Odo-Ona branch, Alhaji Zakariyaa Balogun.

Others were Professor Asif Ahmad, Alhaji Akib Amzat, Alhaji Mubashir Lawal and Alhaji Ukashat Busari.

The clerics maintained that Justice Babalakin and his wife died pious Muslims. They recited several verses of the Holy Qur’an and prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed.

The chairman of the Ibadan branch of the association, Alhaji Abdul Ganiy, in a remark, called on other families to emulate the family of the late legal icon.

“I commend the Babalakin family for what they have done to remembr their parents. They have been doing it for many years. I use this opportunity to encourage other families to emulate them,” Abdulganiy said.