Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has commended the renowned Islamic Scholar Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, the Sultan of Sokoto Abubakar Sa’ad and other Muslim faithful for the launch of an appeal fund for the construction of an international Islamic centre in Abuja.
The Vice President made this commendation today at the International Conference Centre Abuja at the launch of the N1.9billion appeal fund for the construction of an international Islamic centre named “Sheikh Tahir Usman Bauchi Institute for Islamic and Science Education”.
Sambo, who was the Special Guest of Honor at the event, said the establishment of an Islamic resource centre in the nation’s capital greatly underscored the enviable position of education and learning in Islam and a demonstration of the unwavering commitment to ensuring a legacy was bequeathed that would lead to robust and continued propagation of Islamic morals and civilization.
The Vice President who stated that knowledge was a prerequisite for the creation of a just world in which peace could thrive, added that the Islamic Centre could not come at a better time than now with the increasing popularity of such centres in the propagation of Islam, promotion of peace and understanding, engaging in Da’awah activities, offering assistance to the needy and the pursuit of knowledge and scholarship.
Furthermore, Sambo said that the federal government placed high premium on education and learning adding “we have widened the horizon of education by evolving the Almajirai Model of education into the mainstream of the western educational system in the country and have vigorously pursued this by the establishment of more than 125 Almajirai Model Schools across the country, equipping them with state-of-the-art learning and teaching facilities to fast-track the acquisition of both Islamic and Western education under the same roof.
The Vice President however described the security challenges faced by the country particularly in the north-eastern part as unfortunate and alien to Islam and its tenets while calling on the insurgents to embrace peace as a true reflection of their Islamic faith.
Speaking earlier, the Sultan of Sokoto and the Chairman of the occasion Sa’ad Abubakar III emphasized the importance of education in Islam and call on the Muslims to be their brother’s keeper by living in peace with one another including with the non-Muslims. The Sultan also called for the unity of the Muslim Ummah and commended the initiators of the project.
In his remarks, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchii the Proprietor of the Foundation said that education was the most important aspect of Islam and that investment in education is a worthy cause. He called for prayers for the nation’s peace and prosperity and urge all Muslim faithfuls to continue to pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation at individual levels and at all events or gatherings
The Dahiru Usman Bauchi Islamic Foundation was established in 2007 to promote spiritual development, develop capacity of the youth and to improve the quality of life of people through social services and promotion of communal harmony. It has several Islamic centres and schools spread across the federation and running various economic empowerment programmes.
The event was attended by the speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state and his Zamfara State counterpart Abdulazeel Yari amongst others.
High point of the event was the prayer for peace and prosperity of the nation led by Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi.
