Professor Olayinka Kudus Amuni has emerged as the new Chief Imam of the Lagos State University Muslim community.
He succeeds Professor Amidu Sanni who has just retired and who served as the Chief Imam of the University since inception of the community. Professor Amuni was a pioneer student of the Lagos State University in 1984.
In his quest for knowledge, the new Chief Imam is a well-travelled scholar who studied in several higher institutions of learning which include Lagos State University, Nigeria; International African Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan; King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Arab Academy, Cairo, Egypt; and University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he bagged his PhD. He has been a member of staff of Lagos State University since 1991. He rose through the ranks to become a Professor. His specialisation is Arabic Language and Literature. His areas of scholarly interest include African Diaspora in Arabia and the Middle East, Islamic Studies, and Cultural Studies.
He has contributed to scholarly journals across the globe and attended conferences in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Iran, Egypt, and Ghana among others.
He was the Ag. Head of Department of Foreign Languages, LASU, 2016-2018; Academic Director, defunct LASU Festac Campus, 2014-2016! and Assistant Director, defunct LASU Ogba & Ikorodu Campuses, 2013-2014.
Professor Amuni has served as a member of various University committees in LASU. He has equally served as a board member of Lagos State Pilgrims’ Welfare Board and a member of National Planning Committee. He was also on the board of the International Colloquium on Slave Trade and Its Consequences to mark the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence.
Professor Amuni, a scholar par excellence, was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Ibadan (2012) and Visiting Professor in the College of Languages and Communication Arts of the Lagos State University of Education (2022).
The new Chief Imam has been associated with the LASU Muslim Community since inception. He was among the pioneering students who formed the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), LASU Branch, and has served the Society in various capacities. He participated in the activities of the nascent LASU Muslim community. He translated sermons for the Imams, Professor Amidu Sanni and Professor Olawale Raheemson (when Prof Sanni travelled for his PhD programme). He has served the Muslim Community in various capacities and was a member of the Imam- in-Council before his emergence as the Chief Imam.
Prof Amuni who is from Epe, renowned for Quranic knowledge, is the scion of the first Mufty of Epe, the late Shaykh Abdullateef Amuni. Professor Olayinka Amuni is married with children.
