By Teslim Adegboyega
There is this area is Osogbo called Isale Osun. I grew up amidst the struggles to change the name of the area to Isale Alfa. It was a Herculean task. I can bet that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eyes of a needle than achieving the proposed name change. Alas! One day while going through the bags and luggage left by Baami Agba (my grandpa), I came across the luggage he took to Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1982. And boldly written on it was Alhaji Shittu Adegboyega Balogun, Isale Alfa, Osogbo. Wow! learning that the name-change struggle has been in existence since a minimum of 1982 without a wholesome success till this twenty-first century has proven right my assumption of “camel” and “needle” struggle analogy. Mission accomplished. I say!
What makes this much ado about naming the area an imbroglio or a point of concern to many? According to Imam Usamot Rasaq (Imam Raatib, Sekoni Mosque, Osogbo), across Osogbo, the capital city of Osun, no clan arguably has produced the numbers of ulamas (Islamic scholars) than Isale Osun as the offspring are bred in Islamic orientations from cradle to grave.
Interface of CSR, Faith and Scholarship in a Private University. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), according to Archie Carroll quoted in Mostovicz, et al. (2011), has four pillars: economic (profitability), legal (compliance), ethical (fairness) and philanthropic (giving back). In Fountain University, Osogbo, located at Oke Osun, an area very close to Isale Osun, one of the pillars of CSR is at play as the orientation of Islamic education to very many offspring of Isale Osun (Isale Alfa to some) is taking a new dimension.
Ustadh Adegboye Samad, Mudhir Alabi Idris and Alfa Nurudeen Oyedele were among those I saw on the campus on a fateful Tuesday at the school’s central mosque during the First Semester of 2025/2026 Academic Session. Their appearance showed they were students of the newly accredited Islamic and Arabic Department of the School under the school’s arrangement of scholarship to students who wish to study the course. As my brethren from Isale Osun, I was happy to see this transformation. We not only attend Modrasah (traditional Arabic schools) alone, but now, we are leveraging academic degrees in Islamic knowledge and jurisprudence in a formal tertiary institution.
The Vice Chancellor of Fountain University Osogbo, Professor Olayinka Ramota Karim disclosed that the scholarship to students in the department was bestowed by the university’s Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Awa Ibraheem (FCA). In the 2024/2025 session, a total number of 87 students enjoyed the scholarship while a total number of 125 students enjoyed the scholarship in 2025/2026 session. This brings the total beneficiaries to 212 students and the beneficiaries cuts across students from different states in Nigeria, Osun State prominently featured.
According to Mallam Sirajudeen Abdulkareem, founder DaarulHikmah Group of School and DaarulBur’ani wal Ujjah Modrasah, Osogbo, majority of students who enroll in traditional Arabic Modrasah do not find their ways to the formal tertiary institutions to further their studies while just a paltry number of them found their ways to Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf countries to further their Islamic education. In the words of Ibrahim Adeola, a beneficiary of the scholarship now in 200 level, “the scholarship afforded me the opportunity to enroll in a university. If not for it, I don’t see myself as a university student. I have already finished my second haflah (graduation equivalent to SSS 3 graduation), and my plan was to establish myself in our area as an alfa with students coming to learn. Now, I can have a better knowledge of Islam and its teachings backed up empirical findings without undermining the dictates of Al Kitab wal Sunnah”.
The submission by Ibraheem aligns with the position of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB registrar and CEO who also doubles as the Secretary-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), that lack of comprehensive Islamic learning is the problem of some self-made Islamic scholars who resorted into un-Islamic dealings across the country. According to him, a person who is well versed in Islamic knowledge and jurisprudence will know that book (education) is not haram and Muslims should also compete favourable and ethically with their colleagues from other faiths in every sector.
Facing the scholarship, highlighting the benefits “This scholarship is designed to support your academic pursuits and assist you in achieving your goals”
Those were the wordings of the last paragraph of the scholarship letter awarded to the students as endowed by Dr Awa Ibraheem (FCA). The institution’s registrar, Mr. Adenekan Sheriff reflected on the aim of the scholarship and implored students from Osogbo and its environs who benefited and would still benefit from the scholarship to make judicious use of the opportunity in advancing their knowledge and contributing meaningfully to Islam.
“I am grateful for the opportunity and I will make good use of it” said Nurudeen Oyedele, one of the beneficiaries. He furthered that the benefit is an eye opener and a motivator that all students of traditional Arabic schools in Osogbo and her environs can earn an academic degree in Islamic and Arabic Studies.
Mindset, routine changes rather than name.
What has always been the pride of Isale Osun which prompted the clamour for Isale Alfa is the position of the clan as the harbourage of notable Islamic scholars in the town both past and present. Now, the cause is being advanced to having numerous Islamic scholars with academic scholarship. According to Ismail Ajakaye, a beneficiary, by the next 10 years, Isale Alfa, and by extension, Osogbo, Osun state, would have become an Eldorado with more than 85% of Islamic scholars in the town with at least a B.sc in Islamic orArabic Studies or both Islamic and Arabic Studies.
