YPP governorship candidate donates N250m to complete 200-year old mosque
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
The governorship candidate of the Young Peoples Party (YPP), Waziri Yakubu Gobir, has donated N250 million for the completion of Imam Gambari mosque, Ilorin, Kwara State.
The Imam Gambari mosque was first constructed in the 17th century, making it over 200 years old.
Speaking while handing over the cheque for the reconstruction of the mosque in llorin, Gobir said that he decided to singlehandedly fund the completion of the edifice because of his love for community service and the progress of the Ilorin emirate.
According to him, some indigenes of the emirate had contributed about N30 million towards the reconstruction of the mosque.
Gobir said that the reconstruction would give the mosque befitting architectural and structural modifications that would reflect its historical status.
“The mosque was first erected in the 17th century and for more than 200 years, it has been a centre for Quranic Tafsir during Ramadan. Eid-Prayers have been taking place in the mosque in all those years. The great scholar, Sheu Alimi, used to attend Jummat prayer and Tafsir in the mosque,” he said.
Gobir said that he was not the wealthiest person in the state, adding that his intention was borne out of the need to sustain the historical importance of the mosque.
In his sermon at the occasion, a leading Islamic scholar in the state, Sheikh Sulaiman Sheu Borno, described Gobir’s gesture as service to God and humanity.
The cleric admonished that people should always spend in the way of Allah, saying that they stand to gain a lot here on earth and thereafter by doing so.
Some dignitaries at the event included Chief Imam of Ilorin; Sheikh Bashir Mohammad Soliu, Imam Imale of Ilorin, Ajanasi Agba; Sheikh Mustapha, Hon. Justice Idris Haroon, Prof Yusuf Lanre Badmus, members of Gambari Council of Ulamau and Imams, among others.
