By Umar Bayo Abdulwahab
Ilorin
Mallam Muritala Abdul-Qadir Katibi, from Kwara Central has emerged the best overall winner of inter-local government Quranic competition in the state.
Katibi emerged overall best in the recitation of 60 hizb, complete Quran with tafsir, while Muhammad Salisu Jibril from Kwara North emerged 2nd.
Speaker of the state Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad gave a cash donation of N250,000 to the overall winner while the state government announced the sum of N500,000 to support the competition.
Those who excelled in all the six categories would represent the state in the 2018 national competition which will hold in Kastina state in February.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of competition at the weekend, Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed congratulated the competitors for their dedication to Quranic recitation and for boldly demonstrating their recitation skills in the competition and urged them to sustain their interest in the Quran beyond the competition.
Represented by the Commissioner for Water Resources, Barr Abdulrazaq Akorede, the governor said “you must not only learn and imbibe the Quran, you must live by its tenets daily and be guided by its admonitions on honesty, equity, diligence and good neighbourliness,” Ahmed said.
The chairman of Kwara state Committee on National Quran Recitation Competition, Alhaji Shehu Abdulgafar, who is also the Danmadami of Ilorin, thanked the state governor for making funds available for this year’s competition but urged the state governor to redeem his pledge to construct Quran memorisation centre for the state.
