The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has expressed sadness over the passing of an Igbo Muslim leader and media investor, Alhaji AbdulAzeez Chibuzo Ude, describing him as a great nationalist that would be missed by all, especially the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria.
Alhaji Ude, who died last Thursday, aged 81, was the publisher and financier of Financial Post and acting Chairman, Newswatch Magazine.
The royal father said this in his reaction to the death of the late philanthropist, recalling that Alhaji Ude had been known to him since when he (Sultan) was a young officer in the Nigerian Army, having served in the South-East.
The Sultan, in a statement made available on Sunday to newsmen by Prince Bashir Adefaka, said he knew of the internationally renowned publisher, intellectual and art lover, was that “his name had been synonymous with goodness.”
The royal father, while further recalling Ude’s well-spent life as a businessman, industrialist and billionaire, who used his wealth for the advancement of humanity, described his death as a huge loss to the country.
The Sultan condoled with the family, government and people of Anambra State and the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, even as he prayed Allah to grants the departed soul forgiveness and repose it in Al-Jannat Firdauz, and the family members the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
“We are offering our condolences to the family, government and people of Anambra State and, indeed, the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, for this sad loss of the great Muslim figure, quintessential administrator, nationalist and philanthropist.
“We pray that Allah grants his departed soul forgiveness and repose it in Al-Jannat Firdauz, while also praying that Allah gives the surviving family members the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss occasioned by his demise,” he said.
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