Baraje Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Ilorin, Kwara state, is to be upgraded to a university, its founder, Alhaji Abubakar Kawau Baraje, has announced.
Baraje, a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced this during the combined graduation ceremony of the institute where a total of 41 students passed out.
He said the primary aim of establishing the institute is to develop actionable plan to build a new generation of leaders in Islamic education who can hold their own anywhere in the world.
He expressed delight that the institute has moved Islamic education from the near collapse state with investments in infrastructure, recruitment of quality teachers and reinvigoration of the monitoring system of the institute by the management through the recent launched Abubakar Kawu Baraje Foundation (AKBF) . Baraje added that his plan which has received the blessing of the Emir of Ilorin, Alh Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari is to make the institute the first choice for all in terms of the quality and relevance of infrastructure and teaching staff in the digital age.
In his sermon, an Ilorin base Islamic cleric, Alhaji Abdulkadir Maimasa called for strong collaboration between the relevant stakeholders in the state towards moving the Institute to the greater level.
The chairman of the management board of the institute, Justice Salihu Muhammed, thanked Baraje for his keen interest in the proper moral upbringing of the youths through sound Islamic education.
Muhammad disclosed the management will soon swing into action in ensuring rapid improvement and development of infrastructural facilities at the institute.
