From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The University of Ibadan Muslim Community (UIMC) has honoured the late Prof Musa Oladipupo Ajilogba Abdul, the first indigenous member of the academic staff of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, by renaming its Ultra Modern Civic Center after him.
According to a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the Community, Prof. Ismail Azeez, the posthumous honour was in recognition of the late Prof Abdul’s legacy and immense contributions to the growth of Islam in the ivory tower.
The statement added that the deceased during his lifetime was instrumental to many developmental strides and the resurgence of Islam on the campus, where the Muslim community, hitherto, was without many practising indigenous Muslim academic staff.
The statement reads: “Professor Abdul’s leadership facilitated many developmental projects in the University for the Muslim Community, the last in his lifetime being the ultra-modern mosque.
“Prof Musa Oladipupo Ajilogba Abdul, born in 1926 to the family of a renowned Islamic cleric, Alfa Abdulazeez of Ijebu-Ode, was the first indigenous member of the academic staff of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan. He joined in 1964, two years after its establishment.
“The UIMC realized the necessity for all Muslims to be able to read the Qur’an, hence the establishment of an Adult Qur’an class in the boardroom of the mosque. When it became clear that the learners had grown larger than the available space, the Community embarked on the construction of the extant Islamic Center, an edifice that could accommodate the Qur’an class and a hall for social events,” it added.