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Justice Haroon, OFR: A worthy honour to a worthy Jurist

By Abubakar Imam
Of the 437 eminent Nigerians and foreigners who are billed to receive different national honour awards from the Federal Government of Nigeria today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022; in recognition of their profound patriotism and exemplary contributions towards the progress and development of African most populous nation, only three of the lot are known to me as indigenes of Ilorin Emirate. They are a retired Grand Kadi of Kwara State, Honourable Justice Idris Abdullahi Haroon; the Chief Judge of Kwara State, Honourable Justice Sulyman Durosinlorun Kawu; and the Grand Mufti of Ilorin, Shaykh Dr Suleiman Faruq Onikijipa Almiskinbillahi. The first two are to be conferred with the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) while the third compatriot bags the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
The three distinguished gentlemen are eminently qualified for the national honour awards. I am known to each of them by virtue of my position in the umbrella sociocultural organisation of the good people of Ilorin Emirate. I have equally related with each of them and I can confirm that they are seasoned patriots. The trio have contributed and still offering their services to community development and nation building in one way or the other.
However, this piece is specifically dedicated to the celebration of the national honour award being conferred on His Lordship Justice Idris Abdullahi Haroon. This is for three reasons. Justice Haroon is the oldest and longest serving of the trio. This piece is also restricted to the retired Grand Kadi because of space and time as I understand that compatriots are getting too busy to read lengthy pieces from this author all the times. The third reason is due to the fact that I had written and published on the celebrated Grand Mufti of Ilorin not quite long ago while a similar tribute is being prepared in honour of Justice Kawu who would soon be bowing out of services of his fatherland in a few months time. May Allah spare our lives. Aamiin.
The national honour awards became institutionalised in 1964 by an act of parliament. They are meant to reward hard work and encourage exemplary patriotism. As a community peopled by highly industrious,resourceful, brilliant,celebrated and patriotic men and women of high substance, Ilorin Emirate has always been having one or more of its indigenes and residents as beneficiaries of one or more of the different categories of national honour awards right from inception.
Although many outstanding indigenes of Ilorin Emirate who are worthy of the honours are yet to be so granted, it is on record that quite a number of our illustrious senior compatriots had been found worthy of such. The celebrated founder of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria and pioneer Grand Mufti of Ilorin, Shaykh Muhammad Kamaludden Al-Adabiyy, MFR, OFR(1905-2005); and the first Turaki of Ilorin, Alhaji Sanni Olanrewaju Buraimo Okin,MFR, OFR, OBE(1910-1972); were two of the earliest recipients of the national honour awards while Major General Abdullahi Mohammed, the first Chief of Staff to the President; and Honourable Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, remain the only two indigenes of the community and, indeed, Kwara State who hold the second highest of the prestigious national honour awards, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Yes, the list of the beneficiaries of this year’s national honours has been greeted with criticisms from different quarters due to exclusions of some of those who truly deserved them and conferment on a few regarded to be undeserving, it is gratifying that none of the critics, to the best of my knowledge; had queried nor found any of the trio from Ilorin Emirate unworthy of the national honour awards being bestowed on them.
The national honour award being conferred on the subject of this piece is, no doubt, long over due. He ought to have been honoured by the people and government of Nigeria long ago in view of his towering contributions to nationhood and unblemished statesmanship.
I have known Justice Haroon for more than three decades. I first came in contact with him when he was the Deputy Provost of the Kwara State College of Education, Oro, under the Provotship of the late Prof. Shehu Ahmad Jimoh, OON (1944-2014). It was on the occasion of an edition of the annual end of Ramadan programme jointly organised by the then Ilorin Branch of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) and the Ilorin Division of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO). He was invited to the event as a guest speaker.
My acquaintances whom he taught at the College of Education, Oro, often regaled me with information on his brilliance, integrity, generosity and courage; and as a man who practices what he preaches. According to those acquaintances, who, today are senior citizens themselves; his generosity was not only felt by their colleagues (students) but also by his own colleagues (staff) in spectacular manners.
Justice Haroon was described as a good Ambassador of Ilorin Emirate at the College and across Igbomina land. In the course of his one decade of services at Oro, he was one of the most consulted Islamic scholars in the Kwara South Senatorial District as he honoured countless invitations as a guest speaker at various Islamic religious fora. He was one of those who deepened and promoted the cause of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria and the Ilorin Emirate Students Union right from his days at AAMCO,Okene,in 1974.
I was to later meet Justice Haroon when I was appointed as a member of two committees namely the Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee and the Ilorin Eid Ground Maintenance and Management Committee under the chairmanships of Engr. Suleiman Yahaya Alapansanpa, FNSE, and Engr. Yusuf Olanrewaju Sagaya, MFR, OFR, respectively. I met him as a senior member of the two Committees. At each of the committees, I found him not only very resourceful but also humble, patriotic and generous.
The trajectory of the life and career of this jurist started as a pupil of an Arabic School at Owo, Ondo State from where he subsequently got elevated into the teaching profession; and eventual attainment of the peak of his career as a Grand Kadi of Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal. Till date,Justice Haroon remains a reference point in service to humanity and nation building, even a decade into retirement. This obvious life of immense benefits made him highly deserving of the national honour award being conferred on him on behalf of the nation by the President and Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.
As a teacher of Islamic Studies, Justice Haroon taught quite a number of individuals who are today statesmen and women. One of his ex-students is a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and current Registrar/ Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB),Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, OFR, CON. Prof. Oloyede,a distinguished resident of Ilorin, would also be receiving the national honour award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger(CON) along with his teacher. He also taught His Lordship Honourable Justice AbdulRazaq Dagbo,who is a Kadi of the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal,Ilorin;Alhaji Ahmed Kazeem, a retired Deputy Comptroller of Immigration; Dr Kayode Ibrahim, a Chief Lecturer at the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin; and Hajiya Aminat Ibrahim Oniye,who is a high-ranking official of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company. His ex-students equally include Shaykh Abdullahi Berende, Alhaji Taiye Olowo, a former Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in-charge of Yobe and Abia States, Mr Hassan Olokooba, who is a high ranking personnel of the Nigerian Immigration Service; Mall Atiq Sadiq (Kogi State) and Honourable Surajudeen Babatunde. A former Chairman of the Kwara State Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Suleiman Kayode Yusuf (Maja) was also his student amongst several others.
Aside his contributions to nation building through qualitative teaching and as a role model, this distinguished honouree is also being celebrated for being an impartial jurist. He was involved in the dispensation of justice with attendance promotion of social justice, peace and equilibrium in accordance to the dictates of Islam to all manners of litigants for almost a quarter of a century.
Since his retirement, Justice Haroon has proven to be a distinguished statesman. His contributions towards the progress of Ilorin Emirate had been very profound. He has been involved in peace building and socio-cultural development of Ilorin Emirate, Kwara State and Nigeria at large.
Honourable Justice Idris Abdullahi Haroon is a distinguished cleric. He is equally a foremost teacher of teachers. This outstanding jurist, who was born into the Babakeke family of Ojagboro quarters, Ilorin, on December 30,1948 is also an exemplary manager of human and material resources.
Justice Haroon had his childhood at Owo, Ondo State, where his parents were also based. The wish of his beloved dad was for the then young Idris to become an Islamic Scholar. This prayer, no doubt, has been glowingly answered by Allah. He started his life as a pupil of a Qur’anic at Owo. He was eventually admitted into an Arabic School, which was established by the second Grand Mufti of Ilorin, Shaykh Khidir Salaudeen Apaokagi Al-Adabiyy (1917-2013). Justice Haroon was educated at the El-Adabiyyah Elementary Islamic School, an institution established in 1955 at Owo,Ondo State between 1959 and 1962.He equally attended Mahad Higher Islamic Institute, Ilorin, from 1964 to 1968 at the end of which he bagged the Higher Certificate in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the institution that was established by the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria and affiliated to the Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
Justice Haroon was eventually educated at the Islamic University, Baida, Libya, between 1969 and 1970 for his Higher Diploma in Arabic Andrew Islamic studies. He thereafter proceeded to the famous University of Benghazi, Libya, between 1970 and 1974 where he was awarded his first degree in Islamic Studies at the end of his studies at the institution.
Just like any other determined young man, Justice Haroon was not satisfied with his first degree. He thereafter proceeded to the University of Ibadan where he was educated between 1980 and 1981 at the end of which he bagged the Master of Arts degree in Islamic Studies.
Having earned his first degree and upon his consequent return to Nigeria, this remarkable jurist commenced his eventful working career as a teacher at the famous AbdulAzeez Attah Memorial College(AAMCO), Okene in the present-day Kogi State in1974. He taught at the College for two years. The College which was then famously referred to as the “Lion of the North” was established in 1933.
He thereafter joined the services of the Kwara State College of Education, Oro, (Ilorin Campus) as Lecturer III in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1976. He rose through the ranks to Lecturer I in 1981.
Justice Haroon transferred his services to the then newly established Kwara State College of Education, Oro in 1981. He attained the pinnacle of the teaching career at the College as a Chief Lecturer. He was also the Dean, School of Arts of the same College before leaving the institution as its Deputy Provost in 1990.
In addition to his regular services at the two Colleges of Education, Justice Haroon served as a part-time Lecturer at the University of Ilorin between 1977 and 1978. He was also a part-time Lecturer at the Institute of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1978 to 1980. He briefly served as a Cultural attaché at the Embassy of Federal Republic of Nigeria in Tripoli, Libya,1972.
In 1990, the career path of this distinguished statesman changed from teaching to judiciary when he transferred his services to the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal as the Deputy Registrar. In 1992, he became the Chief Registrar of the Court and served as such till 1994 when he was appointed as a Kadi of the Court. He eventually attained the pinnacle of the Sharia Court of Appeal when he was appointed as the Honourable Grand Kadi of Kwara State on July 26, 2010. He held the office till December 30, 2013 when he attained the age of retirement.
In between, Justice Haroon served as the Chairman of the Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board between 1997 and 1999. He was also a Resource Person to the National Judicial Council on many occasions.
Justice Haroon has had the privilege of participating in no fewer than 20 conferences, workshops and seminars within and outside Nigeria. He has equally published more than ten (10) scholarly articles in reputable journals.
This great Nigerian is a Member of the Nigeria Teachers of Arabic and Islamic studies (NATAIS); and a Fellow of the Institute of Human and Natural Resources. He is equally a Member of the Ilorin Emirate Durbar Committee and Ilorin Eid Praying Ground Maintenance and Management Committee. Justice Haroon served as the Amirul Hajj in 2016.
He was a Member of the Kwara State Committee on Religious Education in 1979. He equally served as a Member of the Kwara State Consultative Committee on Promotion of Religious Understanding and Harmony in 1980. He was a member of the Kwara State Judicial Commission, and currently a Member of the Board of Trustees- Baytu Salam (House of Peace) Mosque; Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Foundation since 2010.
Hon Justice ldris Abdullahi Haroon is at present; the Imam of the Jama’at Nasrul Islam Central Mosque, Fate, llorin. He is also the Coordinator of the Kwara State Council of Muslim Organisations and the Proprietor of Al-Mawrid lslamic International College, GRA, Ilorin.
This jurist is currently serving as the Chairman of the Organising Committee for the hosting of the MSSN Islamic Vacation Course to be hosted at Ilorin. He equally is one of the closest unofficial advisers to His Royal Highness; the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs-Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari,CFR,and many other prominent statesmen on Islamic religious matters.
Aside numerous honours and awards earned by him from various organisations and institutions of learning, one is delighted that the the exemplary lifestyle and contributions of this great son of Nigeria, who is happily married and blessed with successful children, have again been recognised as he stands to receive the award of the Officer of the Federal Republic from the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.
While I congratulate His Lordship on this great milestone, it is my prayer that Allah grants him long life, sound health and every other wherewithal he will need to enjoy the fruits of his labour far beyond his expectations. Aamiin.
Imam is National Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union.
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