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Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, will be the special guest of honour at the lecture commemorating the 85th anniversary of the Crescent Bearers (1939), Lagos.
The group is an association of like-minded gentlemen of Lagos origin founded in 1939 by young Muslim men from Lagos Island.
The event, which combines with a luncheon, will be chaired by Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi of the University of Lagos, while an Islamic motivational speaker and the Head of Administration at New Horizons College, Niger State, Maryam Lemu, will deliver the keynote lecture with the theme: Islam and Family Values – Building A Nation of Citizens.
As part of the celebration, a Jum’at service will be held today (Friday) at the Crescent Bearers (1939), Lagos Masjid in Abijo, off the Lekki Epe Expressway, Lagos.
A Thursday statement said the vision of the association was driven by a desire to “promote Western education for Muslims for their collective improvement and upward social mobility in a colonial society in which Muslims not only experienced marginalisation but were also typically held up to ridicule and suffered social opprobrium for their religious beliefs and cultural attachments.”
It added, “With this objective in mind, a group of 16 young Muslim men who came from families indigenous to Lagos Island founded The Crescent Bearers on November 11, 1939.
“The founding fathers were Mobolaji Odunewu, S.M. Onigbanjo, I.A.S. Adewale, A. Fatayi-Williams, M.R.B. Ottun, M.N. Ola Aboaba, M.O. Ekunsumi, N.A. Kekere-Ekun and R.A. Gbajumo.
“Others include Ade Thanni, A.W. Williams, K.B. Shomade, T.A.B. Oki, K.A. Fashola, S.A. Fashola (who died as Olorunsola) and Hamzat O. Balogun.
“Also widely known as CB, the association has remained faithful to the objectives of the founding fathers and lofty ideals of Islam 85 years on.
“Some of the association’s achievements include the award of scholarships to over 450 students in tertiary institutions across the state.”
It noted that the association was also responsible for the maintenance and refurbishment of Crescent Bearers Mourners’ pavilions in some cemeteries, charitable support to improve educational facilities and infrastructure in Muslim-owned schools across the state and the building of an Islamic centre, along with the funding of research papers in support of the education of Muslims in Lagos.
