The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, has declared an annual financial award of half a million naira to the best students in Islamic Studies at the University of Ilorin.

The Sultan said this at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on the Life and Works of Sheik Adam Abdullahi El-Ilory at the university, where, as the chairman of the occasion, he admonished Muslim Ummahs to encourage the search for knowledge, particularly the Islamic ones.

He extolled the life of the late Sheik Adams El-Ilory, founder of Markaz Islamic College, Agege, who as early as 1955 had established the first campus of the college at Abeokuta before moving to Lagos in 1957.

He said the college later became an international centre of knowledge for eminent Nigerians in various spheres of life.

Alhaji Abubakar said the late sheikh, a renowned teacher and contemporary writer, a well grounded author, at a point partnered with the late Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the old Northern Nigeria to found the World Muslim League (WML).

Earlier, Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ish'aq Oloyede, said the idea of the international conference was to fulfill the tripartite duty of the institution to the 'town', the 'gown' and even the 'crown' to bring about knowledge, research and learning.

Governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, who was represented at the occasion by his Commerce Commissioner, Alhaji Mohammed Isa Raji, to declare the occasion open, thanked the institution for hosting the conference and for doing Kwara State proud in the manner that it did.

Dignitaries at the occasion included the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari; the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Alhaji Mohammed Bashir; retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi and other eminent Islamic clerics across the country.