The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, said the death of Igbo industrialist and philanthropist, Alhaji Abdulazeez Ude, is a great loss to the Muslim Ummah and Nigeria in general.
The Sultan is the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI).
In a statement by his media aide, Nasjir Adefaka on Saturday, the monarch expressed sadness over the death of Igbo Muslim personality and media investor Mr Ude.
“The late philanthropist and great nationalist will be missed by all, especially the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria,” the Sultan said.
The statement said Ude had been known to him since when he (Sultan) was a young officer in the Nigerian Army, having served in the Southeast.
He said the name of the internationally renowned publisher, intellectual and art lover, was “synonymous with goodness.”
“We are offering our condolences to the family, government, and people of Anambra state and, indeed, the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, for this sad loss of the great Muslim figure, quintessential administrator, nationalist, and philanthropist,” the statement said.
Recalling Ude’s well-spent life as a businessman, industrialist, and billionaire, who used his wealth for the advancement of humanity, the Sultan said the death of the late publisher and financier of Financial Post and acting Chairman of NEWSWATCH Magazine, is a huge loss to Nigeria.
The Sultan iprayed that Allah grants his departed soul forgiveness and repose it in Al-Jannat Firdaus, while also praying that Allah gives the surviving family members the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss occasioned by his demise
