By YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE

The Government of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday gave an award of excellence to the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Ladipo Abimbola, in recognition of his contributions to the cause of peace and justice, as well as introducing the fear of God to his assignment.

The Saudi government, represented by the Chief Imam of Kabba, who is also the Dean of Arabic Studies at the UMUL- QURA University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Prof. Hassan Abdulmumin Buhari, gave the award to the Chief Judge in the presence of his entourage; workers of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Nigeria, members of the Department of Arabic Studies, University of Ibadan and other representatives of the Saudi government.

Speaking during the award ceremony, Justice Abimbola said there was need for all religions to partner in the administration of criminal justice to make people to know the existence of God and to fear Him in the performance of their duty as judicial officers and get divine guidance.

According to him, it was time for everyone to propagate the message of peace because without peace, nothing could be achieved, adding that the message of peace was more relevant in today’s society than before.

“This award has humbled me and it has charged me to call the people back to Allah. I consider this award very important in view of the situation, not only in Nigeria, but in the world. In fact, I am an Ambassador of Peace. When they came and introduced the concept of what they are doing in Nigeria to me, I was happy; there are a lot of subterranean things we will do to assist in order to attain peace in the society.

“The concept of justice is peace, where there is no justice there is no peace; that is why we are happy to be part of it and it is a way for us to use our knowledge of the law to uphold their own vision and philosophy to achieve peace in the society.

“Every man must do good for his own soul; the Word of God says, he succeeds, who purifies his soul; and he is a failure who corrupts his soul. When we talk about corruption, if mankind understands that when you corrupt your soul, you are only a total failure, no matter the material things of this world you have because the soul is the end of man.

“That is why this award from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia touched me; to go into the Words of Almighty God, to tell man what this concept means in this our life, otherwise man will be chasing vanity upon vanity which is all vanity. I repeat, he succeeds, he who purifies his soul and he is a failure, he who corrupts his soul. Let man strive to always purify his soul,” Justice Abimbola noted.

Earlier, Prof. Hassan Abdulmumin Buhari, who spoke through an interpreter from the University of Ibadan, stated that his entourage was in Nigeria for a Daura; workshop on teaching Arabic to non-native speakers and teaching people how to maintain peace in a non-fully Muslim society.

According to him, the current Daura was not the first the Saudi Government will carry out in Nigeria as they had done so in Sokoto, Ilorin and Maiduguri, among others, adding that they were now in Ibadan as it was one of the most important cities in Nigeria.

He added that the programme was in service to Islam and humanity, adding that participants were drawn from a wide range of groups: judges, university lecturers, Sharia law experts, Arabic scholars as well as secondary school students.

While conveying greetings from the Saudi Government, he emphasised that Arabic language was important to both Muslims and non-Muslims for international and economic purposes.

•Oyo State Chief Judge, Justice Munta Ladipo Abimbola, receiving the award from the Chief Imam of Kabba, Prof. Hassan Abdulmumin Buhari