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Pastor donates N1m to mosque building in Calabar

By Anietie Akpan, Calabar and Daniel Anazia, Lagos
20 June 2018   |   3:45 am
Senior Pastor of the Peniel Church of God in Calabar, Cross River State, Apostle Essien Ayi, has sued for religious tolerance in Nigeria after he donated the sum of N1 million to the Muslim community in Calabar.

PHOTO: www.adelove.com

JCI Ikeja, Lagos Central Mosque train youths in programming
Senior Pastor of the Peniel Church of God in Calabar, Cross River State, Apostle Essien Ayi, has sued for religious tolerance in Nigeria after he donated the sum of N1 million to the Muslim community in Calabar. He said the donation is to facilitate the completion of a central mosque and Islamic Centre in Calabar.

Pastor Ayi, who represents Akpabuyo/Bakassi/Calabar-South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said Nigerians should be their brothers’ keepers, irrespective of religion.

The clergyman who made the cash donation at Gbogobiri, a Hausa settlement in Calabar, said: “Every human being whether Christian or Muslim believes in God, a creator. The religion may be different. The mode of practicing may be different, but it is tilted towards one being, which is God.

“Also, the Muslim society has been very supportive of me right from when I was chairman and they informed me that their former mosque had been demolished and they are trying to erect a new and befitting one.”

He also made donations to two orphanages at Uwanse and Bateba streets, as well as the Pope John Paul Home for the aged and needy along Target Street as it has been his tradition over the years to donate to the less-privileged in the society.

In his response, Head of the Hausa Community, Sarki Lawan, who spoke through the Secretary of the Mosque Committee, Mr. Hashimu Abubakar, expressed gratitude for the donation, saying it will go a long way in the completion of the project.

Meanwhile, as part of its commitment to youth development and empowerment, the Junior Chamber International, Ikeja Local Chapter through its Tech Academy has trained 18 youths in Lagos State.

The Tech Academy, according to the 2018 Local President, Ligali Oluwatosin, is a programming/coding boot-camp for students within the ages of 13 and 17 to teach the basics of coding through real-world, hands-on software development training for one month.

Speaking to The Guardian, Ligali said the four-weekend training is with the objective of promoting technology, and designed to provide activities and projects for secondary school students in Lagos.

Commending the JCI Ikeja for the initiative, Director of Studies, Lagos Central Mosque Vocational Institute, Alhaji Kasumu Abdullahi Olalekan, said it is a welcome development, adding that it is in awareness of information technology in the world that made the Lagos Central Mosque embark information technology education, and necessitated the set of a computer lab within the mosque.

The National President, JCI Nigeria, Adeniran Rasheed Balogun, said the organization daily live up to its vision of providing development opportunities for young people to effect a change.

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