President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad led dignitaries that attended the fidau prayer of Alhaja Amudalat Alake Olusesi in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday.
Alhaja Olusesi, mother of the Managing Director and Editor- in-Chief of National Pilot Newspaper, Alhaji Billyamin Adedamola died last Saturday in Lagos at the age of 85.
The well attended fidau prayer was held at IMAN centre, New Yidi Road, Ilorin.
Saraki, who had earlier sent a condolence message to Adedamola was represented by a three-man delegation led by Hon. AbdulWahab Omotise.
Governor Ahmed was represented by his Information commissioner, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe while the speaker of the state house of assembly was represented by Lukman Adam.
Other dignitaries that attended the prayer included the Special Adviser on political matters, Alhaji Usman Ajape, Professors Hassan Salihu, Badmas Lanre Yusuf, a former Grand Khadi, Justice Solihu Mohammed and chairman, Kwara State council of NUJ, Biodun AbdulKareem.
The Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheik Muhammad Bashir Solihu, who led other Islamic Scholars at the prayer session, described the deceased as an exemplary figure.
In his sermon, a prominent Muslim preacher, Ustaz AbdulKadir Maimasa, urged every faithful to tread softly through actions and deeds.
The cleric, who also emphasised the inevitability of death, cautioned Muslims against accumulation of worldly materials, saying there was no humanly creature that departed to the next world with any luxury.
“It baffles me so much when some people are engrossed in pursuit of material wealth. They are so forgetful that no matter what they acquire, after their demise, it becomes worthless.
“When one looks at the happenings in the society, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that death is near all the time. There has been no one known to have escaped death at the appointed time. There might be variation in the period booked for all of us. But the most important thing is that no one has ever been given the grace to live perpetually.
“Let us begin to prepare for the eternity. The curtain is drawing but we don’t seem to take note of the signal and that is why we have been busy pursuing what will become useless after all”, the cleric said.
