Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III on Friday led dozens of Emirs to commission the Maiduguri Central Mosque completed by Governor Kashim Shettima after the project began 33 years ago.
The mosque was designed as an Islamic resource centre with ten classrooms, two libraries- one of which is an electronic-library, media center and other offices while it is prayer halls have 37 air conditioners, 34 wall and standing fans as well as 28 Soffit fans. The Mosque also has 90 ablution points,18 conveniences, eight water reservoirs, a dedicated transformer and two standby generators.
After the commissioning by the Sultan, the first Juma’a prayer was held amidst large turnout of worshipers who filled inside and surroundings of the 15,000 capacity mosque. The mosque, originally built in 1918 around the Shehu’s palace in Maiduguri, was demolished in 1986 for the purpose of building a bigger one to accommodate growing number of worshipers. Despite several efforts by successive government and contributions by prominent citizens, the project was stalled until Governor Shettima in 2012, approved accelerated continuation by his administration with a completion target set of any time before May 29, 2019.
Sultan Abubakar and the Shehu of Borno (who is custodian of the Mosque) both showered encomiums on Governor Shettima for putting an end to 33 years of waiting.
“Borno is indeed lucky to have Governor Kashim Shettima especially at challenging times because he has proved more than capable of weathering the insurgent storm. He understands the needs of Borno people and certainly completing this mosque touches the heart of many citizens” the Sultan said at a pre-commissioning ceremony around the mosque.
On his part, the Shehu described Governor Shettima as a true leader and one that will forever be remembered and celebrated by the people of Borno.
Governor Kashim Shettima said his administration intervened to meet a peculiar need of a majority population in the state.
“Governance is about addressing basic needs and some wants that are peculiar to every society since all societies have their peculiarities” the Governor said.
