Twelve female medical students have been awarded scholarship by the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN).
The presentation of the scholarship to the beneficiaries, two from each of the six states that make up the South West, was performed on Sunday at the ninth General Assembly of the organisation held at the Islamic Centre, University of Ibadan.
Vice President I of MUSWEN, Ahaji Rafiu Ebiti, who presided over the presentation, disclosed that the scholarship award was initiated by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Mumammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the inauguration of MUSWEN on 10 August, 2008.
According to Alhaji Ebiti, the Sultan had then pledged the scholarship for three female Muslim medical students of South West origin on a continuous basis, but the current administration under the presidency of Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo increased the number of the beneficiaries to 12.
He said the process of screening and selecting the beneficiaries, two each from Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states, for the 2023/2024 stream was conducted by a panel of professionals from MUSWEN’s education and health committees.
The beneficiary students are spread across the Federal University, Dutse; the University of Lagos; the Lagos State University; the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso; the University of Ilorin and Edo State University.
In a remark, Sultan Abubakar expressed delight at testimonies about past beneficiaries of the scholarship award becoming practising medical doctors, saying that the attestations meant that he and MUSWEN were doing something positive.
He said he was driven to initiate the scholarship by the need to reverse the dearth of female medical doctors among the Muslim Ummah and to ensure that there were sufficient Muslim female practitioners to attend to the medical needs of Muslim women.
In an address, the MUSWEN president, Alhaji Oladejo, urged President Bola Tinubu to take measures to mitigate the effects of the current economic hardship.
Alhaji Oladejo also warned Nigerians not to play into the hands of politicians who would not see anything good in the present administration.
Delivering a lecture on the theme of the General Assembly, ‘The Islamic Instruments on Total Eradication of Poverty in the Society,’ a professor of Islamic law and jurisprudence at the University of Ibadan, Wole Abass, described zakat as the most potent instrument for poverty eradication.
According to Professor Abass, zakat is a gift divinely given to Muslims alone and has been proved to be 100 percent potent as remedy to poverty.
He called on rich Muslims to pay zakat as and when due to ensure wealth redistribution in the society.
The chairman of MUSWEN’s Board of Trustees, Dr Wale Babalakin, promised continued support for the organisation and commended the achievements recorded under Alhaji Oladejo’s administration.
The Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Abdulraheem Adebayo Lawal, emphasised the need to address insecurity for a united and peaceful country, saying that national unity is also sacrosanct.
In their goodwill messages, Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Habibat Adubiaro, and the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Special Adviser on Religion (Islam), Ahmad Abdullahi Jebe, promised constant support for MUSWEN in its activities.
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