Shettima claims Tinubu’s mother shaped Nigeria’s moral imagination.

Vice President Kashim Shettima praised the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mother of President Bola Tinubu, during the Annual Grand Prayer Session held at the Abuja National Mosque on Sunday.

Shettima described Mogaji as a woman whose love extended beyond her family and whose influence helped shape Nigeria’s moral imagination. He noted that the late “Iyaloja-General of Nigeria,” who died on 15 June 2013, demonstrated leadership through the lives she touched and the institutions she strengthened.

The vice president highlighted how Mogaji ran her own business, completed her education, and left a legacy that would guide future generations. He referred to the “like mother, like son” dynamic between Mogaji and Tinubu, asserting that she molded him into a leader who serves Nigeria through the values she instilled.

“It should surprise no one, then, that the son she raised carries the same fire into the highest office in our land. President Bola Tinubu learned at her side that public life is a trust and that leadership is owed first to the ordinary and the unheard. The instinct to fight for democracy when it was dangerous to do so, the willingness to stand for the common good when comfort counselled silence. The conviction that the citizen deserves a government that works for them – all of this was first kindled in a home where service was the daily example. A mother shaped a leader, and through that leader, her values now serve the whole of Nigeria.”

Shettima added that Mogaji belonged to a rare class of Nigerians who understood that “commerce is a service to humanity and that the marketplace is a meeting point of human need and human dignity.” He said she devoted most of her life to the welfare of traders and the protection of ordinary women who built their livelihoods stall by stall. “She taught a generation of market women that their work mattered, that their voices carried weight, and that their toil deserved respect. Alhaja Mogaji earned her people’s affection because she served before she sought to be served; she fed where there was hunger, mediated where there was discord and stood between the weak and those who would exploit them,” he said.

Shettima prayed for Mogaji’s soul, entrusting her to God’s mercy. He also expressed confidence that Nigeria could overcome its current security and economic challenges through prayer, unity, and the collective commitment of its citizens. He assured Nigerians that Tinubu remains fully committed to addressing the nation’s pressing issues and that the administration is implementing policies and programmes aimed at strengthening security, stimulating economic growth, and improving the welfare of Nigerians.

Earlier, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, the Convener of the prayer session and Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs and Other Matters, described Mogaji as a woman whose life was dedicated to serving others. He disclosed that more than 250 hand‑pump boreholes have been constructed across nine states in Northern Nigeria in her memory. Masari also announced plans to establish the Abibatu Mogaji Islamic Centre in Abuja to promote Islamic scholarship, leadership development, science, and technology education. Additionally, a modern Juma’at Mosque with residential quarters for the Imam and supporting staff will be built in Rigasa, Kaduna State, in her honour.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that prominent Islamic scholars from across the country offered special prayers for the repose of Mogaji’s soul. The clerics also prayed for peace, security, unity, and economic prosperity in Nigeria.

(NAN)

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