Taiwo Popoola
Some Muslim scholars under the umbrella of the League of Islamic Leaders in Mushin, Lagos, have established a market called Market of Convenience (MFC) where foodstuffs especially would be sold at reduced prices.
Findings Reveal that the scholars held a one-day sensitization programme on Sunday in Lagos on the need for Muslims to embrace the market.
The Convener of the programme and Chairman of MFC, Alhaji Musoddiq Sanni, urged religious leaders to embrace the market.
Sanni said that the Muslim community established the market as a strategy to contribute their quota to tackling economic hardship in Nigeria.
The chairman said that the MFC would serve as an alternative market for Lagos residents.
“This is where they can do shopping for food items,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the market would ease the economic difficulties faced by Lagos residents.
“There is a need for a platform like this MFC. Allah has commanded us in the Qur’an to maintain justice and fairness during business transactions.”
Sanni advised Muslim leaders in Ikeja to establish a branch of the market there to make food items affordable for the community.
He emphasised the importance of corporative societies.
According to him, the League of Islamic Leaders would come up with a blueprint for the operation of the market in conformity with the Sharia (Islamic Law).
“We have registered the Market of Convenience with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture.”
The Chairman of the League of Islamic Leaders in Mushin, Lagos, Alhaji Sulaimon Olanijo, urged other Muslim groups to embrace the new market system.
This, he said, would help to reduce hardship facing Muslim communities and support the Federal Government’s agenda on food security.
Olanijo said that with the cooperation of Muslim leaders, it would be possible to establish an Islamic foodstuffs market in various communities.
The Chairman of the Council of Imams, Ikeja Division, Alhaji Abdul-Rahmon Abdul-Azeez, commended the convener of the programme.
Abdul-Azeez said that prices of foodstuffs had increased much, adding that harnessing the potential of Market of Convenience would go a long way to reduce hardship in Nigeria.