“Do you not see how the Almighty Allah has sets forth the parable of a Pleasant Word like that of a splendid tree with formidable roots firmly entrenched in the belly of the earth and gorgeous branches gloriously sprouting into the firmament of the sky yielding edible fruits every season by Allah’s grace? Allah talks to men in parables that they may be mindfully alert about the outcome of that parable”. Q.14:24
Human life is like a proverbial coin which may turn up the head or the tail any time it is tossed. Perhaps that is why an Arab poet once enacted an axiomatic rune that has come to be a school from which sensible people are still learning a lesson. An excerpt from the poem goes thus:
“…Those are the occurrences of life as you are witnessing them; whoever is gladdened by an occurrence today should not be over joyous as many other occurrences may come with unbearable sadness”
Some occurrences of this era are quite capable of serving as a marvellous reminder of the memorable month of April in relation to the establishment of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in 1954. That was 65 years ago.
In Retrospect
Looking back at the wonderful cultivation of a proverbial fertile land, and the planting of an adamant seed on it which eventually grew up into a gargantuan tree, one cannot but reflect deeply on the above quoted verse of the Qur’an with faithful appreciation.
MSSN and NSCIA
Narrating the story of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) today, no matter how ardently, may not be complete without cogent reference to the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN). The two bodies are like Siamese trees of a gargantuan nature with gorgeous foliages and a formidable stem. Just as it is almost impossible to pluck the fruits of any tree without recourse to its stem so it is difficult to play a significant role in NSCIA today without haven passed through the MSSN. The one is like a wonderful edifice built on the solid foundation of the other. Though, most of the founders of MSSN were not initial members of the MSSN, the role played by each of them in nurturing the tree of that Muslim apex body to fruition cannot be quantified.
The Almond Tree
The similitude of MSSN is like that of the Almond tree. For those who do not know, the Almond tree has no equal among domestic plants in grandiose and splendour. Its magnificent appearance alone simply personifies its environmental grandiose by all ramifications. But much more than that, the tree called Almond is highly curative in medicinal substance and almost indispensable in essence. No soil, whether in the forest, savannah or desert, is ever repugnant to this great tree for dwelling. Wherever it is found, Almond tree creates an incomparably serene environment just as it serves as a protective umbrella for other living organisms around. It is one unique tree that wears the crown of a king among trees and bears the sceptre of a generalissimo among tropical plants.
Parable
The summarised analysis here is not much of the Almond tree per se but that of a Society which it seeks to exemplify. In a nutshell, that parable is of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) which is like the Almond tree. The seed of that Society was planted like a Mustard seed on April 18, 1954 and the seed gradually germinated into an enlivening tree with no irrelevant part.
Most Nigerian Muslims of the current generation may not easily recall how MSSN came into existence 65 years ago either because they were not part of the struggle that brought it to bear or because the struggle has now taken a different form which they are unable to relate to the past.
A Memorable Revolution
MSSN is both a spiritual and a social revolution which quietly crept into the Nigerian society at the very right time that a revolution was direly in need for Muslim youths. If Islam enjoys a hitherto denied official recognition in Nigeria today, it is mostly due to that miraculous revolution.
Genesis
It all started like a dream in April 1954 when a student of Methodist Boys High School (MBHS) Lagos, Tajudeen Aromasodu, now of blessed memory, clairvoyantly mooted a unique idea by proposing an association of all Muslim students in Nigeria starting with Lagos secondary schools. His intention was to create a forum of unity through a common identity for Nigerian Muslim youths of secondary school age. Such a forum was to enable them to agitate for their rights and defend those rights for their common interest.
Aromasodu’s idea had emanated from a journal of the Muslim Students Association of Burma (Myanmar) which he accidentally came across. He read the constitution of that Association in the journal and became fascinated by it. That was at a time when Muslim school pupils could hardly pass through secondary schools in Southern Nigeria without getting forcefully converted into Christians. Muslim children seeking Western education in those days were seen as trespassers or usurpers despite paying the demanded fees. Besides denying them their rights to worship according to their belief, the Christian Missionaries who owned most schools in those days used the schools as an instrument of forceful conversion. Thus, most of the Muslim boys and girls who attended Christian missionary schools either ended up becoming Christians or were forced to drop out of schools if they rejected conversion.
The Nucleus Team
Aromasodu’s focus at that time was probably not beyond Lagos which was then Nigeria’s federal capital and the seat of the colonial rulers. He quickly contacted a few other Muslim students of like minds in Lagos and, together, they decided to invite two delegates from each of the then seven most prominent schools in Lagos. Thus, fourteen of such students (boys and girls) formed the pioneer membership of what was destined to become a proverbial Almond tree of a formidable nature. The seven schools were Kings College, Lagos; Queens College; Yaba, Methodist Boys High School, Lagos; CMS Grammar School, Bariga; Ahmadiyya College (now Anwarul Islam Model College), Agege; Methodist Girls High School, Yaba and Baptist Academy, Obanikoro.
That nucleus body held its inaugural meeting at Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School, Alakoro, Lagos, on April 18, 1954. It was at that meeting that a proposal which had earlier been sent out to the mentioned schools was formally adopted. And, a resolution was taken to draft the constitution of the Society which was ratified thereafter.
First Executive Body
With the constitution in place, some members of the first executive body were elected into office. Dr. Abdul Lateef Adegbite of King’s College was unanimously elected as President while one Shuaib Oloritu also of Kings College and Saidat Anibaba (now Professor (Mrs.) Mabadaje (rtd) of Queens College became first and second Vice Presidents respectively. Dr. Adegbite’s election was quite timely and coincidental because he was not just the Chairman of the Library and Debating Society of Lagos secondary schools, at that time, which made him a first among equals, he too had been planning a common forum for all Muslim students in Nigeria.
Some other officers were also elected and given responsibilities. Duties were delegated with trust and virtually everybody lived up to the trust.
What would have been a major hindrance to the realization of that dream was lack of funds. But nothing fails at the dream level if it has the hands of Allah in it. With strong determination and commitment, the young boys and girls levied themselves one shilling each monthly which they dedicatedly contributed from their monthly stipends. Besides, each of them bore the cost of transportation when assigned to a duty outside their immediate environments.
Conferences
If the first national conference of the Society, held in Lagos in 1954, drew the attention of many people to MSSN and attracted many new members, that of 1956 held in Ijebu-Ode was a watershed. It was at that conference that the Society can be said to have become a real national body. It was at that conference that some members especially of northern extraction who later became prominent in that Association joined in 1956. Some of those members included the late Shehu Musa of Niger State who later became Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Adamu Ciroma who became the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Jubril Aminu who rose to become the Secretary of Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) after serving as Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri and later became Nigeria’s Minister of Education and that of Petroleum. There were also people like Yerima Abdullah and a host of others. It was about the same year that some other Lagos students like Lateefat Oyekan (later) Alhaja Lateefah Okunnu (a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State) joined the Society and boosted its growth with special indefatigability. At that time, Islam was not yet known to have significantly reached what is now called South East or South-South of Nigeria.
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The third conference was held in Ilesha in 1957. It was hosted by one Alhaji M.A. Smith, a prominent businessman with substantial financial wherewithal. The fourth and fifth conferences were held in Ibadan and Abeokuta in 1958 and 1959 respectively. In all those places, the conscious attention of local Muslims was drawn to Islam and some of them gladly encouraged their children to join the newly formed society of Muslim students in the secondary schools.
The Turn of Events
By 1957, Abdul-Lateef Adegbite, the first President of the Society had completed his secondary school education at Kings College and he wanted to vacate the office for someone else but other brothers would not hear of it. They persuaded him to continue with the leadership in appreciation of his cool-headedness and leadership ability. However, providence set in to play a role in the life of Abdul-Lateef and that of MSSN simultaneously. He got a job as a researcher at the Historical Research Scheme in Ibadan in which he was engaged while awaiting admission into The University College, Ibadan (UCI) to read English Language.
At that time, Adegbite experienced a repeat of fortuitous providence working for him against his wish. He did not succeed in gaining admission into the University College but that was a blessing in disguise for MSSN. If he had been admitted as he wished, he would have had less time for the Society in its infancy and he would not have become a lawyer that he gladly became later. He also would have studied English at the University College, Ibadan (UCI) without any scholarship. Eventually, his patience and faith paid off as he later got admitted into the University of Southampton, England, where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Law before proceeding to the University of London for his Master’s and Ph.D degrees on scholarship.
Gender Dichotomy
Realizing the implications of toasting any of the sisters into marriage within the Society, Adegbite, the President himself, avoided any act that could set a bad precedent for others. When it was time for him to choose a marital partner, he made sure that his wife to be, one Miss Taibat Yetunde Carew (now of blessed memory) was not a member of the Society. Although he met her at an MSSN forum, the latter merely escorted her friend to that forum.
When he returned into the country in 1965 with a Ph. D degree, Dr. Adegbite was surprised at the growth rate of MSSN across the country. Virtually all the Muslim secondary school pupils had fully become members and most of the foundation members had either graduated from Higher Institutions or about to graduate.
He therefore thought of a higher pedestal for the Society’s alumni to operate spiritually. Fortunately, he was appointed Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the Western State in 1967 a position that put him in very good stead. He was therefore, able to strengthen the MSSN and encourage fellow alumni to join hands in floating another Muslim Society that would be meant for only adults as members. That Society was named Western Jama’h otherwise called Westjomo which later graduated into National Jama’ah otherwise called Najomo. Today, most of the pioneer members of MSSN are great men and women in various public and private sectors. The current Sultan and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, some Emirs, Ministers, Governors, Vice Chancellors, Professors, a JAMB Registrar and, even the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua were prominent members of that great Society called MSSN. And now, the newly appointed Chairman of National Hajj Commission, Alhaji Dhikrullah Olakunle Hassan was once the National President of MSSN.
Office Accommodation Problem
It, however, became disturbing that despite the greatness of this Society and its alumni, there was no permanent office that could be called its national headquarters even by the time its 50th anniversary was celebrated in 2004. An attempt was once made to sight such office in Ilorin being the midway between the north and the south, but that attempt was unsuccessful. It was only when the elders decided to pay attention to the issue of headquarters, recently, that a plot of land was secured for office in Abuja on which work is yet to fully commence even 65 years after the establishment of that great Association.
National Brotherhood
Dr. Abdul-Lateef Adegbite’s appointment as Commissioner in the Western State in the 1960s also helped tremendously in bridging the religious gap between the north and the south especially in respect of the formation of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in which he was to play a major role as Secretary-General later in life. As far as Islam is concerned, Dr. Adegbite’s role was a footprint on the sands of life. Let those who are yearning for a similar footprint be as dedicated to Islam as he was.
A Leadership Training Ground
Apart from serving as a unifier of Muslim youths in Nigeria, MSSN also started as a potent leadership training ground for Muslim men and women of the future. That many brothers and sisters who passed through the Society are occupying various prominent positions including Gubernatorial, Ministerial, top managerial and core professional posts in Nigeria today is an attestation to that assertion. At least not less than five Heads of State or Presidents of Nigeria have been produced by the Association. However, the tempo of leadership agility of the past seems to have waned tremendously partly due to change of focus and unwarranted desire for acquisition of wealth and position.
Thus, due to the fact that most students of nowadays are immature, some experienced hands at the helm of affairs in the Society continue to hold sway as principal officers of the Society thereby hindering the upcoming ones from gaining the necessary leadership training and experience that should normally prepare them for the future. The implication of this is that leadership is no longer by training or experience but by mere incidental assumption. This in itself is a great disadvantage to the growth and development of MSSN as well as a cause of various divisions leading to the emergence of splinter groups. If this Society must progress as expected, a return to the original system that gave it a prominent vibrancy in the past should be a sine qua non.
Clarion Call
This is a clarion call on all Nigerian Muslim men and women of substance, who had passed through the MSSN, and are now blessed in one way or the other, to pull their loins together and rebuild the once great Society that has now become ramshackle for posterity sake. Let those who were once made by history turn round to make history tor the benefit of the future generations. Our footprint must not be obliterated in our lifetimes. The one time great, guiding crescent of MSSN must not be allowed to eclipse.