S
tate Governors, politicians, business moguls and corporate heads on Friday gathered at the Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital to honour President Olusegun Obasanjo’s invitation for launch of his project.
The occasion was the fundraising and foundation laying ceremony of a mosque to be built inside the complex of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
The mosque named Baytus-Salam Central Mosque, is to be located meters from the existing church also built by the former Military Head of State.
The governors of Sokoto, Kano, Kebbi, Kastina and Ogun States were in attendance as the organisers raised N400 million. They had planned raising N350 million.
Obasanjo who is the Initiator of the project, said the idea was to put down a legacy for posterity and reflects the mosaic of the community in terms of Christianity and Islam.
“I believe that the more you know about your God, the better you will be able to serve Him. If you are religious, you will be a good citizen because religion behooves us to be better citizens.”
He revealed that the mosque would have facilities such as the Imam’s residence, an Islamic school among others.
In his remark, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, urged Nigerians to continue to co-exist peacefully regardless of religious differences.
Commending the former President for the idea, Amosun said: “This is a clear demonstration that we can co-exist regardless of our religion. Baba is a Christian but he has shown we should not have issues about religion and where we came from.”
In his keynote address, the Chief Imam of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Kamaldeen Balogun, praised Obasanjo for his vision, noting that the mosque is a veritable centre of learning that is capable of impacting basic Islamic knowledge on the younger ones.
“It is my abiding hope that the formal opening of the foundation of Baytus-Salam Mosque would strengthen our efforts in peace building and reconciliation between the Muslim Ummah and followers of other faiths.”
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