RECAP OF MPAC OPEN DAYS EVENT, 2018.
Alhamdulillah, we have come to the end of our 1-week long MPAC, Nigeria Open Days Event which ran from the 22nd to 28th of October,2018. The Event highly interactive with stimulating sessions, and it was a good opportunity for our guests to extract information from us on several issues of interest and importance.
Below is the Summary of the MPAC Open Days Event 2018.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 1!
The First Day started with much enthusiasm as the Executive Chairman of MPAC himself was on seat to welcome guests. The first guest for this year’s event was the Account officer of MPAC, Mr Teslim Omotona from Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 2!
On the Second day, we had an interesting guest, Gift. She was quite inquisitive and we were glad to have engaged her on several issues bothering her mind.
Gift believes the Open Day is a commendable effort and a good way to engage with the Muslim community and get to know them better.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 3!
On the third day, we had two more enthusiastic guests, Mr Abdulwarees Solanke, the Deputy Director of Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Sister Ganiyat who came in with her lovely kids.
Mr Abdulwarees came in to show his support and also encouraged us to take the Open Day Event to the streets, so as to meet and engage more people who are unable to visit the office. This he believes will increase publicity for MPAC and its events.
Sister Ganiyat was quite inquisitive about MPAC’s vision and goals. She had been indifferent about Islamic activities although she had attended the MPAC Convention before. She was glad to know that Professional Islamic Organisations like MPAC exists; which caters for the affairs of the Muslims. She was much satisfied with the event and hoped that MPAC could hold it more than once a year.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 4!
On the fourth day, we had several interesting guests who lightened up the atmosphere. Mr Disu Kamor-the Executive Chairman of MPAC, Nigeria, Mrs Mujeedah Abdul Aleem from Voice of Nigeria, Mrs Mutiat Toyosi Orolu of Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative and Mr Sofiyullah Oladipo of Nimble Solicitors/Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative as well as one of our dedicated volunteers, Mr Adam Alimi.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 4 (Part 1)!
We featured one of our dedicated volunteers, Mr Adam Alimi. Adam has been volunteering and participating in MPAC Events since 2011 and we were honoured to have him show up on our Open Day. Adam engaged the MPAC Team for on several issues affecting the Muslim community. His major concern was about the reoccurring cases of victimisation of female students in the hijab. He wants MPAC to collaborate and lead other Muslim organisations into finding a lasting solution to the issue.
Adam also exhibited his experience in Islamic history by taking us through the roles of the early Muslims and how they impacted on their communities. He believes the mosques need to step up from just being prayer house to serving as community resource centres for discussing and resolving issues affecting the immediate community as well as developing the youth. He also encouraged all Muslims to be ambassadors of Islam in their respective communities.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 4 (Part 2)!
Day 4 of our Open Day event was really a blast! Our Executive Chairman, Mr Disu Kamor was present to host as well as engage the guests.
In attendance was Mrs Mujeedah Abdul Aleem from Voice of Nigeria, Mrs Mutiat Toyosi Orolu of Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative and Mr Sofiyullah Oladipo of Nimble Solicitors who is also a member of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria – National(MULAN) and the Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative.
Mrs Mutiat Toyosi Orolu was impressed by the structure of MPAC and the professionalism exhibited in running the organisation. She emplored the Management of MPAC to do more in training other Muslim NGOs on how to run them professionally in order to become more productive. She also expressed her interest in a partnership with MPAC.
Mrs Mujeedah Abdul Aleem advised MPAC to give subsequent Open Day events a media spice in order to reach more members of the public. She also encouraged the Management of Sakinah Medical Outreach, the sister organisation of MPAC (that is involved making quality health care services, facility and medical treatment easily accessible to the deprived community) to partner with Association of Resident Doctors in the North in order to reach more beneficiaries.
Mr Disu Kamor took the guests through the history, challenges and achievements of MPAC. He also expressed that there is still much work to be done by the Muslim community as well as the need for Muslim owned NGOs to collaborate and share experience in order to achieve more success and contribute to National development.
The guests were presented with gifts (Publications from MPAC and other books). Overall, the guests expressed their satisfaction with the Event.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 5!
On the fifth day, we were honoured to host more members of our striving Volunteer Community, Sister Sofiyyah Obileye and Brother Okunade GoodMan Hammed. Sofiyyah has been volunteering with MPAC since 2010 and has become accustomed to MPAC’s vision and core values.
Sofiyyah expressed her overall satisfaction with MPAC and encourages the Management not to relent in doing more for the Community. She also emphasised the need for Muslims to flow with the trend by staying up to date with what is happening around them.
Okunade GoodMan Hammed recently joined MPAC volunteering as the Graphics Design Lead with the aim of providing top-notch designs that will truly exhibit the professionalism of MPAC. Hammed believes Muslims need to do more in dedicating part of their time in service to Allah as well as to effectively compete in the society.
It was exciting having them around.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 6!
On the final weekend of the MPAC, Nigeria Open Days Event, we hosted a brother from Islam Focus Development Centre in the person of Mr Abdul Azeez Oguntoyinbo and for the second time, Mr AbdulWarees Solanke, the deputy Director of Voice of Nigeria (VON) was also in attendance.
They were hosted by Mr Amani Momodu, the Director of Admin of MPAC and the Admin Secretary- Ibrahim Adewale Salami. The discussions majorly focused on Media and partnerships.
Mr Abdul Azeez had been an MPAC volunteer before becoming the coordinator of Islam Focus Development Centre. He enlightened us about Islam Focus which is an NGO focusing on media, emphasising the character assassination of Muslims in the media and the quality of content of Muslims in the media. He also expressed his interest to partner with MPAC on relevant development initiatives that will benefit him and his organisation.
Mr AbdulWarees from VON focused on the media aspect facing the Muslim community and the need to partner with media professionals to air the truth in order to tackle false communication, character assassination and misrepresentation of Muslims in the media.
Mr Amani Momodu took the guests through the origin of MPAC which emerged as a response to the victimisation of Muslims after the September 11 attacks in the USA. He stated that MPAC had worked and collaborated with over 35 organizations and has been a major push on several issues affecting the Muslim community. He also expressed and acknowledged the iMPACt of the volunteers of MPAC (consisting of a diverse community of striving brothers and sisters) who have been a strong backbone to the Organisation.
Finally, Mr Amani Momodu expressed that a lot has been done by MPAC but henceforth, MPAC would only focus on 3 major aspects namely; MEDIA, POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT AND INTER-FAITH RELATIONS.
It was a really enlightening and engaging event.
Recap of MPAC Open Days Event-Day 7!
On the seventh and final day, we were pleased to host a young inspiring Muslim woman Mrs Mariam Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe who has been actively engaged in women related issues. She was a former Amira (Muslim Female Students’ Coordinator) at the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), LAUTECH Branch.
In a very engaging discussion that lasted for about 2 hours, Mrs Mariam expressed concerns for the increased rate of depression amongst women thereby affecting their performance in fulfilling their roles in the society. She urged the Management of MPAC, Nigeria and Sakinah Medical Outreach to collaborate with other organisations focusing on mental health issues; postnatal depression, persistent depressive disorder, and postpartum depression that is mostly affecting women.
Mrs Mariam also expressed her satisfaction with the MPAC office environment, setup and facilities that have been put in place in running the Organisation. She emphasised that it was high time Muslims step forward as the forerunners of the society; making economic decisions, influencing change, and telling the original and true narrative about Islam as well as addressing the challenges faced by Muslims in general.
Although the 2018 MPAC Open Days Event has come to an end, our office is still very much open to visitors to make inquiries. We are open from Mondays to Fridays (9:00 am – 5:00 pm Daily).