*Lagosians troop out in droves as markets, shops shut in his honour
…MUSWEN, Bola Ajibola, Tinubu, Aregbesola, Obasa, others mourn
The crowd at Mosalasi Nla Eko, popularly called Lagos Central Mosque, Monday afternoon was huge that if needle was thrown up, it would have nowhere to land except on a person.
That was the situation at the burial of the late 79-year-old Chief Imam and Chairman of Lagos State Muslim Council, Sheikh Ibrahim Garba Akinola (OFR), who passed away to the greater beyond on Sunday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, after a brief illness.
The remains of the late religious giant were interred into the mother earth after a Janazah (funeral prayer) led by Chief Mufasir of Lagos, Sheikh Tijani Gbajabiamila.
He was buried within the mosque premises shortly after the Zuhur prayer amidst outpouring of eulogies and tributes by leaders in the huge crowd of dignitaries, Islamic scholars and members of the Lagos Community who thronged the densely populated Idumota in the heart of Lagos Island to pay their last respect to the late man of peace, as he was generally described.
Late Sheikh Garba Akintola, The DEFENDER can comfortably report, was notable for his cooperation with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, in the starting and ending of Ramadan fast uniformity that the Nigerian Muslim Community has achieved in recent years as he would sit in the Lagos Central Mosque with other clerics under his coordination awaiting Sultan’s signals and then he handled the onward dissemination of the news in further giving strength to the official announcement made by the Sultan on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
As a mark of honour for the deceased, most shops in the popular Idumota market were closed throughout on Monday while the burial the burial lasted according to Islamic rites.
Sheikh Ibrahim Garba Akinola, who was installed as the nineth Chief Imam of Lagos in July 2000, was first a civil servant who served in the old Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).
Some of the faces at the Janaza prayers were former Senator Muniru Adekunle Muse, Chief Razak Okoya, retired Justice Ishola Olorunnibe, white cap chiefs of Lagos and National Missioner and Chief Imam of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdulrahman Ahmad.
President of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Sakariyau Babalola, expressed the condolence of the Ummah in the South West over the death on Sunday of the Chief Imam of Lagos, Sheikh Ibrahim Garba Akinola.
Babalola, an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), who is Deputy President-General (South), Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), described the late Sheikh Akinola as a pillar of strength for the period he served as Chief Imam of Lagos between 2000 and 2017.
The condolence message was contained in a statement issued and signed by Executive Secretary of MUSWEN, Prof. Dawud Noibi, copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER, on Monday.
Also, paying his tribute, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Abdul-Jabbaar Bola Ajibola (SAN), also mourned the passing on of Shaikh Garuba Akinola Ibrahim, who was an Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR).
In a related development, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), through a statement by its President, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said, “The late Shaykh Ibrahim Garba Akinola was a great scholar, pious and widely travelled. We pray that Almighty Allah overlooks his trespasses and reposes his soul in A-Jannah firdaus.”
In a statement from his media office, former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said, “Sheikh Ibrahim will be greatly missed not only by Muslim faithful but also by the people of Lagos and South-west. Through his sermon and ‘Khutbat’, he drew attention to the various societal ills and suggested corrective steps. As Lagos State governor, I presented him with the staff of office as the 9th Chief Imam of Lagos on July 30, 2000 following the demise of his predecessor, the late Alhaji Liadi Alade Ibrahim (OBE). I will miss him personally.”
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, in a message by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Rasak, said Nigeria would miss his honesty and commitment to national development.
Also, President of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in Lagos State, Dr. Saheed Ashafa, described him as a worthy leader whose promotion of unity was outstanding.
Osun State Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, said the death of the chief imam was a big loss to the entire Muslim community in Lagos and Nigeria.
Media Adviser to the Governor, Mr. Sola Fasure, quoted Aregbesola as saying that, “His preaching and the depth of his Islamic scholarship will be missed.”
