CHRISTIANS and Muslims alike have continued to pay their respects to the memory of the late
secretary-general of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Lateef Adegbite, who died in Lagos on Friday, aged 79 and whose remains were interred at the premises of his Abeokuta home on Saturday.
Prominent among the voices on Saturday was Christian Association of Nigeria president, Ayo Oritsejafor, who acknowledged the departed Adegbite as “an intellect, a distinctive spiritual charisma and an extremely popular and effective mouthpiece of Islam.’’
Oritsejafor’s remarks were contained in an official statement released to the press on Saturday in Lagos, where he expressed shock and sadness over the death of Islamic scholar.
“I received with shock the news of the death of Dr. Lateef Adegbite, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), renowned Lawyer and former Attorney-General of the defunct Western Region,” the statement read, before going on to hail the late Islamic Council scribe for what Oritsejafor saw as his great feats.
“The foundation of his message consists of joining religious belief and modern education, one that is based on positive activism, interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
“Adegbite spent his career impressing on people that true religion preaches love, tolerance, open-mindedness, compassion, hard work, peace and many other values and practices that lead a person to virtue and perfection.
“Indeed, he was a perfect influence on those who desire a better understanding of the Islamic religion. Nigeria and the international community will surely miss him,” Oritsejafor said.
The Christian Association president’s followed President Jonathan’s Saturday statement on the death of Adegbite, who among other things was a constitutional lawyer of Abeokuta, Ogun State heritage.
Describing the late Islamic scholar as a peace-loving Nigerian who reached out to everyone irrespective of religion or creed, the president said his contribution will be missed.
“He was a devout Muslim leader, distinguished lawyer and academic,” Jonathan had said in the Saturday statement signed by Reuben Abati, the president’s communications chief.
Noting that the late Adegbite, who held the title Seriki Musulumi and Baba Adinni of Egbaland, served meritoriously as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Public Awareness on Security and Civic Responsibilities, President Jonathan appealed to his family members to be consoled by the truth that the late Muslim leader made indelible contributions to the development of his homeland, Nigeria.
Others, too, joined in paying glowing tributes to Adegbite.
The Jamaátu Nasril Islam, through its secretary-general, Dr. Aliyu Khalid, described Adegbite as “an upright, fearless, committed and accomplished Islamic worker and a lawyer of high pedigree.
“It is on record that he was the pioneer National President of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria.’’
The Arewa Consultative Forum also said in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, that Adegbite died preaching religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
“He was a true and strong believer in one united Nigeria, inhabited by people who are socially diverse, economically empowered and politically active.’’
“We imagine the body of Seriki Musulmi and Baba Adinni of Egbaland lying in both peace and in pains: the peace associated with death and the pain of what he has left behind.
“And so the best honour to the venerated Adegbite is for Nigerians to live out what he preached till his death in our daily lives,“ the statement said.
“We have indeed missed an icon but we take solace in the fact that he left good works and an enduring legacy worthy of emulation,’’ former President Olusegun Obasanjo said at the burial ceremony on Saturday
The former president noted that Adegbite’s death had created a vacuum which would be difficult to fill in Ogun and the nation at large, but prayed that God would give a worthy replacement for the deceased to the country.
Others present include Governors Fashola and Amosun of Lagos and Ogun, alongside Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar of Sokoto.