Govs, lawmakers, Tinubu, others donate N1bn as Izala floats varsity

Thousands of people from all walks of life on Sunday thronged the ancient city of Hadejia in Jigawa State to perform the foundation-laying ceremony of the first Islamic University in the town, the proposed Assalam Global University.

The University is a brainchild of the Jama’atul Izalatul Bida; a Waikamatul Sunnah (JIBWIS) popularly referred to as Izala Movement in Nigeria.

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Donations received from governors, lawmakers, and others at the ceremony ran into over N1billion, Daily Trust reports.

Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State announced a donation of N250m by the five governors of Jigawa, Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Katsina states while a good samaritan, who asked not to be identified, was said to have donated N500m.

Members of the National Assembly donated N150m while the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu donated N10m.

In his address, the National Chairman of JIBWIS, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, said the concept of floating Islamic university at this crucial stage “was to allow our younger generations to gain access to acquire western knowledge with skills, and Islamic knowledge for a better tomorrow”, assuring that the proposed university was not peculiar to Muslim ummah alone but to all and sundry, provided one’s qualification meets the standard of the varsity.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented at the occasion by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Ibrahim Ali Pantami, reiterated the federal government’s resolve to accord priority attention to education with special attention to functional and character learning institutes across the country.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, who performed the foundation-laying ceremony, used the occasion to remind political office holders on the need to uphold their oath of allegiance, stressing that every leader will be accountable upon his stewardships before God in the hereafter.