Imam Abdulganiyy Shittu: A Cleric and Thinker, By Raheem Akingbolu
This is not the life history of Alhaji Abdulaniyy Muhammad Shittu but a tribute because his life history is multifaceted and so cannot be covered in few lines.
While alive, Imam meant many things to different people, depending on how and where you knew him.
To most of us who gather here today, Imam Shittu who transited and joined the saints on Saturday, 14th of December, 2019, was a Muslim cleric and leader of the Aramoko Ekiti Muslim community.
To another set of people, Imam was a philanthropist, considering his investment in education, businesses and vocations of many youths within and outside his family.
And to some of us, Imam was an intellectual, a farmer, a researcher and deep thinker who devoted most of his time to research about business, manufacturing and complexity of life.
One of the results of this endeavor is his multimillion-naira factory which would have been a manufacturing hub on Asa Dam Road Ilorin, were he to be alive.
He told a few of us close to him two years ago that the factory would start full production as soon as he felt better. I’m not sure if that dream ever came to pass.
If there is a part of his life that people didn’t know, it was the fact that Alhaji Gani had a stint in politics, though he later confessed that Nigeria Politics was not design for a good believer, whether Muslim or Christian.
Only him knew why he arrived at the conclusion.
When former President Ibrahim Babangida came out with his two-party system.
Alhaji pitched his tent with National Republican Convention and saw an ideal leader in Chief Michael Adeojo and a few prominent political leaders in Ekiti West.
Meeting and consultation began and the leaders saw in him a detailed political strategist, hence they (the leaders) unanimously concluded he served as Secretary of the party in the local government. He served meritoriously without blemish.
In a private discussion with Chief Ade-Ojo, the current Baba Egbe of St Annes Catholic Church, he told Aramoko political elites that had they yielded to his political advice, the community wouldn’t have lost the 1992 House of Representative Contest to Efon Alaaye.
According to Chief Ade-Ojo, the late Imam, as a patriotic Aramoko son, had counselled the Aramoko people to look for alternative candidate in NRC to contest with Late Niyi Awosusi rather than allowing Efon Alaaye to feed Late George Eniolorunda, who eventually won.
In the calculation of the late NRC secretary, Aramoko would have presented a weaker candidate in NRC to slug it out with a stronger Awosusi but his advice was turned down by those who thought he was working for his party. SDP lost, Aramoko lost and Efon Alaaye won.
He was a family man per excellence and this can be confirmed by anybody who visited his palatial house in Ilorin that has since turned to Mecca for many family members who are either on transit or permanent stay.
Three years ago, our own Egbon Femi Oyeniyi attested while reeling out good virtues of this man of God.
While relaying the experience of one of his nieces, who gained admission to University of Ilorin, Bro Oyeniyi said any member of Abaatiba family who wanted residence for his or her daughter in Ilorin could go and sleep with both eyes if he knew Alhaji Gani house.
It will interest those present here today that Imam was not blind by religious fanatism or tribalism like many of us.
He is a peace maker and bridge builder who believed Muslims and Christians have no reason to disagree. During one of our conversations, Imam Abdulganiyy went philosophical and concluded that 1 million Sultan of Sokoto cannot preach to change the entire country to Muslims and that there is no magic our respected Pastor Enoch Adeboye could perform to make all the Muslims Christians.
To him, this is a misery of the Almighty Allah. He used this to explain why he would continue to be the father-figure to his cousins, nieces, brothers and sisters who are of different faiths.
Again, during one of our discussions, Imam concluded that unlike mathematics, Physics or Social Sciences that have formulas and theories, life has neither formula nor theory.
To him, this explains why a son of a rich man may become poor and why a son of a messenger can become governor, a son of herbalist can become a pastor while a son of a nonbeliever can become a deep Muslim.
To complement the work of the doctors who attended to him while battling with his ailment in the last 7 years, Imam went on spiritual and scientific excursion to get solution to the problem.
He consulted the best of physiotherapists within and outside Nigeria but came to the same conclusion – “mine was a bunch of terminal disease” he used to tell anybody who cared to listen.
But beyond his spiritual life, which he took seriously from his teen days until his death on Saturday, Imam was an entrepreneur.
He was one of the few Muslim clerics who believed an average Alfa or Pastor should have another means of livelihood.
He started life as a teacher and ended up as a security consultant and businessman.
Alhaji Abdulganiyy Shittu Oladipo, the Chief Imam of Aramoko Ekiti was born on 12th of December, 1952 to the family of Chief Shittu Oladipo, the late Abaatiba of Aramoko Ekiti.
Abaatiba is the second in command to Alara, known in Aramoko local parlance as Agba Ile.
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His educational life was complex perhaps because he wanted to have wide knowledge of many things.
He schooled late, he married late, he went to Hajj early but painfully, he didn’t live long.
After his primary school education at Ansaru-Deen primary Sch, Aramoko Ekiti, the then young Ganiyu relocated to Ilesa to live with his brother, the Late Alhaji Momodu Akorede, a flour dealer and later Missioner Ansar-ul- Islam in Ife-Ijesa zone.
Touched by his early commitment to spiritual matters, Alhaji Akorede didn’t hesitate to send his young brother to Ilorin for Arabic education under the tutelage of late Sheikh Kamaldeen Alhadabiya at Madhi Kamaldeen. He was between the age of 10 and 12 at the time.
He was in the school for nine years with many other Muslim youths, who are now respected leaders in government, business and administration, including the current JAMB Registrar and former University of Ilorin Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isiaq Oloyede and his bosom friend and name sake, Prof Abdulganiy Oladosu aka AGAS of Unilorin Education faculty.
In his quest to seek for more knowledge, he surprised many of his friends who expected him to start consulting and attending to those who needed spiritual assistance, when Alhaji Gani insisted on returning to Aramoko to acquire Modern School Education.
He enrolled at St John Modern School as the oldest student and the school authority had to single him out to be using trouser instead of the short nicker uniform for male students.
Before he left the school, he became a shining star in modern arithmetic and other subjects. Not done, he moved to St. Joseph Teachers’ College, Efon Alaaye for his Grade two Certificate.
After graduation from the Teachers’ college, Alhaji Gani got employment as class room teacher in Erio Ekiti and from there to Oyan; Oyan to Okuku and from there to Inisha, all in the present Osun State, where he thought Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Because of his commitment to his job at Inisa, everybody thought he had gotten to his final destination but Alhaji Gani said no! He needed varsity education to compete favorably in the labour market.
Before anybody could guess, he had returned to Ilorin to register as a private student and write his General Certificate of Education (GCE).
He came out in flying colours -even without formal Secondary School education and applied to University of Ilorin and secured admission to study Arabic which he concluded in 1988 and bagged Second Class Upper of Bachelor of Arts Degree.
After his university of Education, Imam again shunned advisers who wanted him to go to the cities. He returned to Aramoko to explore agriculture.
He told those who cared to listen that any graduate that worth his or her degree should be able to identify opportunities.
In one of his awareness classes for Aramoko Muslims youths in the 80s, Imam usually made it known that the fact that Nigeria has infrastructural challenges should be an opportunity to those who think.
For instance, he pointed out that ice block makers tend to make more money where there is no electricity for all.
He was not saying this to support lack of electricity but he insisted that it shouldn’t be a barrier that would stall our progress. “Don’t be a stagnant water” he would say.
With this, he went into farming after obtaining B.A Honours.
To be more knowledgeable, he enrolled in NDE Graduate scheme and established a maize farm and had a stint in popcorn production.
It was around this time he joined politics and became Secretary of the NRC at the local government
One day in 1993, after the Babangida transition programme had failed and after turning down the plea to lecture Islamic Studies in either the then Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti or any of the colleges of education in the then Ondo State or Osun State, Imam finished his early morning marathon prayer and said he was relocating to Kano.
In Kano, he found a good ally and mentor in the current Oba of Igbara Oke, Oba (Dr.) Francis Adefarakanmi Agbede, who was then running full-time Crown Continental Security Service and became his employee.
He served the company so well that the management promoted him rapidly after which he became the rallying point in the company as Oba Agbede was planning his exit from active service to ascend the throne of his forefathers.
In 2005, following the demise of Imam Ayilara, Aramoko Muslim Community beckoned on Alhaji Abdulganiy Shitu to come and lead the community.
He accepted but the management of Crown Continental Security Service expressed their willingness to have him retain his job and served in both capacities.
To ease the workload, the company helped his relocation to Ilorin.
This decision was also an avenue to strengthen the company’s operation in the North Central state.
Within few years, Imam transformed the Aramoko Muslim community as he introduced many innovations, the annual Harvest ceremony through which he encouraged his Ummah to contribute meaningfully to the service of Allah.
Ironically, he died on Saturday the day for the 2019th edition of his innovation.
Through the annual gathering and other initiatives, he won many people back to the fold of Islam. May Allah rewards him with Aljanat.
Today, Imam has transited, leaving behind two wives and four children.
Indeed, there are lessons to learn and take home from the life of this man, who lived his life for God and humanity.
Again, May Allah accept the soul of the people’s Imam to Aljanat Firdaus.
