By Adeyinka Adeniran
The Chief Imam of Aliiwo Central Mosque, Ibadan, Alhaji Moshood Giwa has urged Nigerians to live their lives to please their creator so as to enjoy His grace of eternal commendation whenever the end comes and which in most cases is unexpected.
He gave the charge on Wednesday at the 41-day fidau prayer for the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun.
The Nation reports that, Oba Balogun joined his ancestors on the 14th March after a brief illness and buried the following day at the family’s burial site within the Aliiwo compound. Oba Balogun lived for 81 years and reigned for just two years as Olubadan.
At the programme held at the Aliiwo Central Mosque, where two of the surviving wives of the late Oba- Olori Olayinka and Olufunmilayo Balogun among other family members were in attendance, three of the members of Olubadan Advisory Council- Obas Tajudeen Ajibola, Hamidu Ajibade and Abiodun Azeez, the Otun Balogun, Ekerin Olubadan and Ekarun Balogun respectively also graced the occasion.
The Cleric, who emphasized the hereafter maintained that the kind of life one lives while on earth would determine how and where the hereafter would be spent stressing that the certainty of that assertion is incontrovertible and the fact that both aljanat and Janamah exist side by side is as sure as death itself.
Reading from the holy Quran to buttress his views, the Cleric said “both the two heavens cannot be missed by any mortal when judgment is pronounced by our maker and the owner of both heaven and earth. Whatever one does here determines which of the two heavens is allotted on the day of judgment which is why it is very important to live rightly to please the Almighty Allah so as to enjoy His favour at the close of the creation”.
On the late Olubadan, the Cleric recalled that the family members were deeply pained that his reign was so short, but became thankful to the Almighty Allah for his life and times when peoples’ comments were taken into consideration.
“We became elated and our sorrow evaporated with the torrents of accolades that trailed his demise. We are very much convinced that our beloved son has gone to rest peacefully in aljanat going by the reports of good deeds people made and are still making about him”, he added.
The eldest of the surviving wives of the late Oba Balogun, Olori Olayinka, who reacted on behalf of the immediate family described the last 41 days without their Patriarch as a nightmare as the immediate family members still feel they were in a dreamland, still trying to grapple with the reality of eternal exit of their symbol of love and oneness.
She however expressed gratitude to the extended family and several others who had continued to share in their grief in the last 41 days. “We thank God for a fulfilled life lived by our late husband, though still feel pained that he left us so suddenly. We are very encouraged by the outpouring of encomium on our departed hero and ready to forge ahead, lifting aloft his legacies of service to humanity”.
Among the congregation were some of the Ibadan Royal Highnesses, Baales and Mogajis as well as some of the executive committee members of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) led by the President-General, Mr Niyi Ajewole.
