Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III will on Friday (today) commission the modern Central Mosque and Islamic Centre in the state built by Wunti Al-Khair Foundation.
The Friday Mosque named Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi Integrated Islamic Centre consists of a conference hall, Islamiyya School with 18 classrooms, a lecture hall, the Imam’s residence and Rauda with state-of-the-art facilities, 24 restrooms, two standard libraries, among others.
During an assessment of the level of work on the centre, Governor Mohammed commended the foundation for constructing a befitting Islamic Centre in honour of the renowned Islamic cleric.
The governor expressed satisfaction with the quality and level of work done and assured of his administration’s continuous support for religious activities for sustainable growth and development.
Speaking with journalists yesterday during a tour of the centre, the project manager, Abdulrazak Wunti, said it was designed in line with building and construction regulations of the state government.
“The project has the main mosque, Rauda and a conference hall. The old mosque could carry only 760 worshippers at a time.
“But what we did now was to expand and increase the size of the main mosque and it now has a capacity of 3,500 worshippers while the outside also has a capacity of 3,500. The Islamiyya has 18 classes, six toilets, two conference halls, two standard libraries and two computer laboratories.
“While constructing this project, we adhered strictly to the laid down building standards. Officials of the State Development Board kept coming here for inspection to ensure that we complied with the rules and regulations of quality control and quality assurance. I can assure you that we complied with all of them,” Wunti said.
Also, the project supervisor, Rabiu Maijama’a Wunti, said, “All preparations are completed for the inauguration of the Islamic centre for the people of Bauchi.
“We have achieved 98 percent of this project from the planning, regulatory compliance, communication with key stakeholders among others. We are expecting over 10,000 people here (to come for the commissioning),” he said.
On behalf of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi Foundation, Imam Tijjani Dahiru appreciated the group for initiating the magnificent centre.
He said that “The edifice beat our imaginations. We thought it was only a mosque, but it turned out to be a centre with Islamiyya, a conference hall, residence, among others with state-of-the-art facilities.
“We are grateful to the Wunti Al-Khair Foundation for this kind gesture. We give the assurance that we have put in place a mechanism to ensure the maintenance of this centre,” he said.
