All is set for the presentation of staff of office to the 10th Chief of Imam of Lagos, Sheikh (Engr.) Sulaiman Oluwatoyin Abou Nolla which is slated for Sunday.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is to present the staff of office to the new Chief Imam who was appointed after the demise of the ninth Chief Imam, Alhaji Garuba Ibrahim on September 24, 2017.
Abou-Nollah, 43, assumed the throne in December 2017 making history as the youngest person and first graduate to occupy that exalted position.
Baba Adinni of Lagos State and Chairman of the Lagos Central Mosque, Sheikh Abdul Hafeez Abou who briefed newsmen on the planned ceremony and turbaning of new titled Chiefs of the Central Mosque, declared that the new Chief Imam is fit and competent for the position.
It would be recalled that the new Chief Imam emerged after a rigorous selection process which involved other aspirants for the position.
Baba Adinni said he was chosen among names forwarded by the Nolla family where he hails from because of his knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.
“He was more or less the most outstanding among others. He is a choice of the Muslim Ummah. So he is no doubt competent and fit for the position. Not only that he is an Islamic scholar, he is also an engineer by profession”, he said.
Abou said the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar would be in attendance with other prominent Islamic and Christian leaders in the state and the country.
The 95 – year- old Baba Adinni who was flanked by the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Chief Sikiru Alabi Mcfroy, Balogun of Lagos, Alhaji Ademola Oki, among others, said the Lagos Chief Imam must be an all-rounder in knowledge of Islam, social affair and political issues.
“Lagos Central Mosque is the oldest in the South-West and the role of the Chief Imam in Islamic and national affair is great. Right from the colonial era, the Lagos Central Mosque is one of the avenues used by the colonial masters to communicate to the grassroots”, he said.
