Oba of Lagos Cautions Muslims Clerics against Materialism, Donates N25m to Newly Inaugurated Ikoyi-Dolphin Mosque

Ugo Aliogo and Esther Ehoche

The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has called on Lagos Muslim Clerics to reduce their pursuit for money, describing it as an unhealthy religious practice and urged them to focus their attention towards propagating the tenets of Islam to faithful.

Akiolu who disclosed this yesterday in Lagos at the Inauguration of the state of the art Ikoyi- Dolphin Community Central Mosque, called on the Chief Imam of the Mosque to set up Arab and Islamic schools in the Mosque for the teaching of the Islamic faith amongst faithful.

The Oba who donated N25 million to support the maintenance of the Mosque, appealed for more supports from everyone in order to ensure that the maintenance of the Mosque remains a priority.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the mosque project committee, Mr. Remi Babalola, said the motive behind the construction of the mosque is to create a more convenient place for the people to worship, stating that the old mosque could not contain the large number of worshippers that visited.

He also stated that the newly inaugurated Mosque has a sitting capacity of 520 for male and 200 for female worshippers, which makes a total of 720 seats, excluding those seating outside the Mosque.

Babalola who commended the Chairman of Dangote Groups of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for purchasing the land for the Mosque in 1995, said the construction work was paid for by Fola Adeola and Tunde Folawiyo.

He added: “The motive behind the construction of the mosque is to create a more convenient place for the people to worship. But beyond that is to find a rallying point whether for adult or children. There are offices, and meeting rooms. What is important for me is that there is sincerity of purpose from people to donate when they see genuinely what the money is used for. The cost of building the Mosque was N515 million.

“The fund raising of the mosque endowment fund is all about setting aside funds that would be used for the maintenance of the mosque and having finance to deal with an emergency situation without seeking for funds at that particular point of need. This endowment fund would be used for the maintenance of the generators in the mosque, payment of the cleaners, treatment of borehole water, payment to firefighting crew, taking care of the Imam in the mosque, and the horticulturist. The endowment funds will also be used to take care of the poor..”