President Buhari to resolve tussle over Obalende Prayer Ground in 2 weeks

*As Lagos State Muslim Community visits Villa

*Land was “Absolute Grant” to Muslims as praying ground – Alabi-Macfo

*President’s promise not empty, we count on him – Oyekan

*Mr. President has promised us and we believe him – Balogun

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“I commend you for adopting a peaceful approach to seeking justice, without heating up the polity,” Buhari hails Lagos Muslim Community.

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the Lagos State Muslim Community that he will resolve the tussle over ownership of Obalende Muslim Prayer Ground between the Ummah and security agencies.

This was as contained in a statement dated March 22, 2023, signed by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, and copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER.

To this end, according to the presidential statement, he has set up a committee under the leadership of the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, to advise him on the processes and all that needs to be done to do justice to all parties involved.

Speaking at the State House during a meeting with members of the Community also called the Lagos State Jama’atul Muslimeen, on Wednesday, President Buhari said justice and fairness are principles very dear to him and that he would hold onto them as long as he lives.

His words, “I have listened to the enlightening historical details you have read. You will get justice as far as this is concerned. I commend you for adopting a peaceful approach to seeking justice, without heating up the polity. The Chief of Staff will get back to you in two weeks,” he said.

In their presentation, the group said they had come to the President as a last resort, having explored several avenues to get justice to no avail.

In their account as rendered by the leader of the delegation, Alhaji Sikiru Alabi-Macfoy, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the organisation, the Lagos State Muslim Community informed the President that their ownership of the land dated back to 1931 when the Nigerian Government made an “Absolute Grant” of 3.11 acres of the land in question to serve as Muslim Prayer Ground at the new Hausa Settlement, Ikoyi Plains, Lagos, now known as Obalende.

This, they explained, was much earlier than the arrival in the area of their neighbours, the Dodan Barracks, that came after the collapse of the First Republic.

The Lagos State Muslim Community further presented documents to show approval of the ownership of the land, signed by the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, under Obasanjo’s military administration, affirming their ownership of the land.

They reported that “in the last few years, officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, at Dodan Barracks have been threatening to deny the Muslims access into the prayer ground because the Muslim Community was claiming ownership of it, apparently based on their erroneous understanding that the Prayer Ground belongs to Dodan Barracks.”

Other members of the committee set up by the President are the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, the Director General, Department of State Services (DGSS), Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, and others recognised as stakeholders in the matter.

In the meantime, speaking exclusively to The DEFENDER on the visit, former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, University of Ilorin, Dr. Jubril Oyekan, and President of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN), Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Balogun, both members of the community also present at the meeting, described the promise by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, as one that is believed to be serious and reliable.

Oyekan said, “With the high powered community he set up to effect this (promise) and, apart from being very, very serious government officials, these are also people that we know are committed Muslims. So, we expect that, yes, there will be a positive result and that the matter will be taken seriously.

“That is especially as we are very close to another occasion, when the use of the place will be required by the Muslim Community and that is the next Eid that is coming now in less than 30 days,” he said.

To Abdul-Rahman Balogun, the President is serious without his promise to working on resolving this Muslim Prayer Ground issue so that the place will become usable for its original purpose.

Asked to bare his mind on the President Buhari’s promise, he said: “He set up a committee and told the committee to brief him in two weeks on way to resolve it within two weeks.”

On whether or not it is the usual promise that has ended at nothing, he said, “This time around it is a high powered committee to be shared by Chief of Staff, Minister of Works, DGSS and others.

“It is a serious one because he said, on the sideline of his speech, that this matter has been on his neck for a long time as Fashola has been on him over it. He added also that he knows the genesis of the Obalende Prayer Ground and that, as serving Head of State, he prayed there.

“That was the land that has been allocated since 1931 to the Muslim Community, over three acres and had been used by the Muslims. He thanked the Community for not taking the law into their hands.

“So, I see sincerity this time around in the promise,” the Muslim Media Practitioner of Nigeria President said, adding that “Mr. President has promised to resolve the matter and we believe him.”