10 scholars to represent Edo in national Quranic competition

No fewer that 10 Quranic reciters will represent Edo State in the forthcoming national Quranic competition slated for December 28 to January 5 in Gombe State.

Coordinator, Edo State Quranic Competition (Musabagah), Sheik Ibrahim Oyarekhua, disclosed this at the palace of Otaru in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government of the state while addressing Journalists shortly after the state Quranic competition.

He said 104 reciters participated in the competition while 60 emerged winners in six categories, but that 10 reciters will represent the state at the national Quranic competition.

“10 reciters will represent the state in the male and female categories. The 10 would be picked from the 60 participants that emerged from this competition. We will pick first, second and third positions for some categories while only first and second positions would be considered in other categories and they will be camped from December 3, to 26 before embarking on the journey to Gombe State December 27,” he said.

He added: “The essence of the camp is to lecture them seriously on the categories they are going to feature in the competition. We will invite the national judges from the North to help us train them. The reason for this is to allow better hands to have one on one touch with them. This has always given us improvement on the level of our performance and we have been winning prices since we came on board,”

Chairman, State Muslim Welfare Board Sheik Oyarekhua who commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for giving enormous support to the state Musabaqah said it has enabled the state to perform well at both the state and national Quranic recitations.

On his part, an Islamic scholar, Abdulfatai Enabulele, said the competition is aimed at maintaining the standard of Islam in the state so that children would be able to memorise and understand the message of Allah as contained in the Holy Quran.

“It is also to encourage the younger ones to strive to know the Quran, which is the world of Allah, memorise it and understand the meaning so that when they grow up they will not forget the words of Allah and also teach their children,” Enabulele said.

Enabulele, while commending the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh (Ikelebe III) and other traditional rulers for providing a platform for scholars to participate in the competition, urged the participants to continue to practice tirelessly so that they would be victorious at the national competition.