 Prof. Abdul-Razaq Abubakre
The King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has commissioned Prof. Razaq Abubakre to give a lecture on the History of the Arabic Language in Nigeria.
The lecture is scheduled to take place on Nov. 9 , at 6.00 pm Nigerian time via zoom.
A statement signed by Abubakre in Abuja gave the link as: https://youtu.be/hqYInX7SCBQ
The Saudi Academy, established in September 2020, aims to strengthen the role of the Arabic language regionally and globally and to highlight its value in expressing the linguistic depth of Arabic and Islamic culture.
It is currently the most authoritative academy of Arabic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, established to promote cross-fertilisation of research, advancement in teaching and exploration of further growth of Arabic.
That the Academy is named after the present ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attests to its precedent.
Abubakre’s lecture addresses issues such as stages of the growth of the Arabic language in Nigeria from the beginning of the first century of Islam to the 6th century of the Gregorian calendar.
It touches on inter-language borrowings between Arabic and local languages in Nigeria, culminating in the cross-fertilisation of inter-language expansions of vocabularies.
It also touches on prominent Arabic literary figures in Nigeria spanning centuries to the contemporary period.
The lecture will establish that for two centuries in succession, the 19th and 20th centuries, the doyens of Arabic Literature in Africa, West Atlantic, were Nigerians.
The two prolific Nigerian authors were Shaykh Abdullah b. Fudi of the 19th century and Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory of the 20th century, according to the statement.
The lecture will also examine the future of Arabic in Nigeria.
It also re-emphasises the relevance of Arabic to the proper grounding and foregrounding in Islamic Studies.
The lecture draws the attention of the Nigerian and global communities to give more moral and financial support to the private Arabic schools that deserve support.
The statement indicates that such financial support should come especially from the Arab world.
This is as just as its counterparts in English receives support from the British Council, French from the Alliance Francais, German from DAAD, and German Academic Exchange Programme as well as from Goethe-Institut.
The Speaker, Prof. Abubakre is from Iwo in Osun.
He studied Arabic under Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory at his Arabic and Islamic Training Centre Agege, and the University of Ibadan for his Bachelor’s degree in Arabic language and Literature, which he completed in 1976 with First Class.
Abubakre won the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, British Award, for his PhD in Arabic Literature at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies from 1977 to 1980.
He was a Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Programme DAAD in 1987 and 1996.
Abubakre became regional President for Nigeria and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Global Islamic Literature, 2001 to date.
He was the National President, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria 1974 to 1975, the National President of the Nigeria Association for the Study of Religions, 1987 to 1993.
Abubakre was member of the Executive, International Association for the History of Religions, Rome, Italy, 1991 to 1995.
He was appointed Chairman Governing Council, Oyo State College of Education, Ila Orangun; Chairman Governing Council, Muftau Lanihun College of Arabic and Islamic Studies 1994-2002
Abubakre was Head Department of Religions, University of Ilorin, 1992 to 1995, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, 2001 to 2003.
After that, he became Vice-Chancellor, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, 2008 to 2010 and Federal Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission for Osun, 2012 to 2018.
He retired from the University of Ilorin on Jan. 20, 2018, and relocated to the UK from Jan. 2019 to Sept. 2021.
Abubakre is a member of Agba Osun (Elders of Osun) from 2021 to date. (NAN)
