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Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
Prominent Islamic scholars in Ilorin, yesterday, took turns to explain why the Saraki dynasty will never go into extinction in Kwara State and Nigeria.
The clerics spoke at the seventh remembrance prayer for Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, former Senate leader, and patriarch of the family at Charity Home, Ilorin where they lauded his philanthropic gestures.
The clerics included Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Mohammed Bashir Salihu, Sheik Suleiman Dan Borno and Sheikh AbdulRasaq Imam Aduagba. They were unanimous in their views that late Saraki’s philanthropist gesture and kindness towards commoners, especially the aged was legendary.
Quoting copiously from the Holy Qur’an, Imam Salihu said: “Saraki will forever live in the minds of the people, especially the poor and the aged whom he spent all wealth on during his lifetime.”
The Chief Imam said Saraki was more of a philanthropist than a politician. “Baba Saraki’s kindness towards commoners was not seasonal; he attended to the needs of his people regardless of whether it’ politics time or not,” he said.
The Chief Imam of Ilorin, noted that Saraki’s contributions to the growth and development of Ilorin and the old Kwara state remained unbeatable.
He recalled how the late politician erected water tanks in every parts of Ilorin metropolis to provide water for the people, construct bridges across the popular Amule river of Ilorin to aid vehicular trafic at a time when he had not even ventured into partisan politics.
He admonished Nigerian politicians to emulate Saraki’s exemplary conduct by spending their monies in assisting the less privileged as government alone cannot provide the needs of the people.
