Sultan inaugurates Nawair-Ud-Deen mosque, warns Muslims against division

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has asked Muslims to do away with divisive tendencies, saying the Ummah’s togetherness over the years has paid off.

He spoke during the inauguration of the Nawair-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria’s National Central Mosque in Abeokuta, Ogun State, recently.

The foundation of the mosque was said to have been laid 34 years ago but its completion dragged on due to paucity of fund.

Sultan Abubakar said there should not be discrimination against any Muslim, irrespective of the different Islamic organisations they belong to.

“As Muslims, we should belong to all the Muslim organisations. There should not be any division or any discrepancies because we are Muslims first before any other thing.

“And that is what we have been preaching in the last 12 years. Alhamdulilahi, we have come a long way and we have seen the result of our being united as brothers and sisters in Islam.

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“I want to thank all of you who contributed to this project since its foundation was laid 34 years ago. This mosque would not have been completed before now because this is the time Almighty Allah said it was going to be completed,” the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said.

He commended the resilience and commitment of the leadership of the society to completing the project.

The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi and the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, were among prominent personalities who graced the occasion.

Others were the president of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Sakariyau Babalola; the Chief Imam of Egbaland, Alhaji Liadi Orunsolu and the member of the House of Representatives for Egbado South and Ipokia Federal Constituency, Adekunle Akinlade.

Also speaking, Amosun appealed to the people of the state to shun any act that could jeopardise peace in the state.

The governor, who appreciated Muslims, especially leaders and members of Nawair-Ud-Deen Society for sustaining the organisation since its establishment 79 years ago, urged them to keep up the tempo.

He praised the leadership of the organisation for the completion of the mosque project.

In his own speech, Professor Ishaq Oloyede urged the members of the organisation to bequeath to their children, Islamic knowledge and values with a view to sustaining the religion.

He emphasised that only children with sound Islamic knowledge, moral and values could maintain such a sprawling mosque.

On his part, the chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Sakariyau Babalola who is the Deputy President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said Nawair-Ud-Deen Society had improved the “public perception of Muslims in Yorubaland.”

The president of the organisation, Alhaji Rasak Oladejo, attributed the successful completion of the mosque to the “immense contributions in cash and kind from friends and members of the society.”