FELICITATION AND MOONSIGHTING FOR RAMADAN 1443 A.H.

Date: 28th Sha’aban, 1433 AH

31st March, 2022

The month of Ramadan (is that) in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). “So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan i.e. present at his home), he must observe fasting that month”… (Q. Al-Baqarah 2:185)

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alh. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, felicitates with the entire Muslim Ummah on the auspicious occasion of the forthcoming 1443 AH Ramadan Fast. The Council prays that Allah spares the lives of every Muslim to participate in the ibaadah exercise and to maximize the benefits therein.

Consequent upon the advice of the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC), the President-General enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Ramadan 1443 AH immediately after sunset on Friday, April 1st, 2022, which is equivalent to 29th Sha’aban 1443 AH.

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MUSA UGASA OKARO: THE GRUESOME MURDER OF A MUSLIM LEADER

Date: 8th Rajab, 1443 AH
10th February, 2022

Inna liLlahi wa inna ilaehi raaji’uun!

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the leadership of its President-General, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, received with utter shock the news of the gruesome murder of a top functionary of the Council in Delta state, Mallam Musa Ugasa Okaro, on Thursday, February 3, 2022. The late Muslim leader was fatally shot directly on the head on his way back home from the masjid after observing his night prayers. 

Until his death that fateful Thursday, Mallam Okaro was the Secretary-General of the Delta State Council for Islamic Affairs, a position he occupied with an unwavering commitment to Islam and uncommon selflessness in the service of humanity. That his death has left a big vacuum that is difficult to fill in the Muslim ummah in Delta state specifically and Nigeria at large is a bitter reality that continues to confound us. We pray that the Almighty Allah forgive his sins, overlook his shortcomings, admit him to Al-jannatul Firdaws and console his family and the Muslim community left behind.

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THAT THURSDAY TERROR AT OYUN BAPTIST HIGH SCHOOL, IJAGBO

Date: 6th Rajab, 1443 AH
8th February, 2022

The attention of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has been drawn to the sadistic attack and barbaric carnage unleashed on some Muslim students in Ijagbo, Kwara state, on Thursday 3rd of February, 2022. The victims of this premeditated violence were only exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful protest over the decision of  Oyun Baptist High School, Ijagbo, to deny some female Muslim students entry to the school premises on account of their use of hijab.  

It will be recalled that the Muslim students’ despair peaked exponentially last week as tension rose and nerves frayed over this unjust treatment. This situation was aggravated by the inaction of the government of Kwara state to quickly arrest the situation and enforce its own directive which was restated on January 25, 2022 to all public schools in the state on the use of hijab and berets for willing students after the management of Oyun Baptist High School suddenly decreed that female students should not wear hijab to the school again. With the indifferent attitude of government to this infringement, the students took their frustration and complaint to the Kwara State Teaching Service Commission and to the Government House in Ilorin prior to the protest at the school gate in Ijagbo.

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IKOYI TRAGEDY AND THE IMPERATIVE OF NATIONAL REFLECTION

30th Rabiul-Thani, 1443 AH
5th December, 2021

The attention of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the leadership of its President General, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, has been drawn to the tragic collapse of a skyscraper in Ikoyi, Lagos. The Council is devastated by the loss of precious human lives in the disaster and distressed by humongous material losses to individuals and organisations. The Council commiserates with the families of the victims, the Government and people of Lagos state and all Nigerians as a whole. We pray that the Almighty Allah keep Nigerians safe and guard us against such calamities in future.

As we and other Nigerians continue to mourn this national catastrophe, the NSCIA calls for an unbiased and thorough investigation to be conducted in order to establish the remote and immediate causes of the tragedy with a view to forestalling future recurrence. It is heartrending that though Nigeria is not new to tragedies, appropriate actions are not usually taken and rooms are inadvertently created for the continuation of errors that should not have taken place. This Ikoyi incident is a wake-up call that our national attitude requires a paradigm shift and Government has to be more proactive in nipping disasters in the bud and more active in responding to emergencies.

One major outcome of the response to this catastrophe is our utter state of unpreparedness in confronting emergencies of that magnitude. Despite the fact that Nigeria has a Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and similar agencies at the state level, the rescue operations still left much to be desired both in effectiveness and efficiency. Definitely, a more comprehensive and professional approach would yield a better result than the haphazard and largely kinetic operations that were apparently more tailored towards retrieving bodies than rescuing lives.

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