10th May, 2015
The Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA) has awarded scholarship worth N3.6 million to 59 students of the university.
The National President of UNIFEMGA, Prof. Abudulwahab Egbewole, stated this at the presentation of the N3.6million cheque to the beneficiaries at the 2015 Re-Union of the Association on Saturday in Ile-Ife, Osun.
Egbewole said that UNIFEMGA has awarded scholarship to 321 students of the institution worth N17.6m since the inception of the programme in the 2009/2010 academic session.
“It is gratifying to note and to put on record that 16 of our awardees bagged First Class degrees at the last convocation ceremony of the university,” said Egbewole.
According to him, the lesson that the awardees should learn is to give back to the society when Allah has blessed them, saying this is the only way that this gesture can be sustainable.
In the same vein, the Guest Speaker, Dr Wale Babalakin, (SAN), spoke on the theme: “Challenges of Managing a Business in Nigeria: The Islamic options.”
Babalakin said that there is no successful business in Nigeria that is not facing one challenge or the other be it population, electricity, taxes and corruption among others.
He appealed to the incoming government to address these issues, so that everybody would have his own business and people would live comfortably without depending on government.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Former President, Association of African Universities, in his opening remarks, encouraged all Muslims faithful to go for business as Islam recommended it.
Oloyede advised Muslims to create jobs for themselves rather than being job seekers, since government alone cannot satisfy all Nigerians with white collar jobs.
Also, Alhaji Ahmed Popoola, the Former UNIFEMGA National President, said that many Nigerians are interested in engaging in businesses so as to contribute to the national economy and move the country forward.
Popoola quoting the `World Bank economy analysis, said Nigeria scores 189 position, which in all parameters of doing business across the country was low.
He further listed that to get electricity, Nigeria ranked 187, starting a business, 129, running business continuously 179, and paying taxes it ranked 179.
According to him, this is not a good statistic to an economy that wants to lead among the top 20 economies come 2020.
He called on the incoming government to move forward from “bad statistics to better statistics.’’
Popoola maintained that if government can create conducive environment to the private sector to run businesses, total eradication of unemployment would be assured in the next four years.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, who was represented by Eng Bashir Lawal, Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Interest, pledged that the incoming government would impact change for all.
Aregbesola advised all and sundry to have attitudinal changes so that all hands would be on deck to war against corruption in order to move the country to its promised land.