MOSQUE ADMINISTRATION IN POLICE FORMATIONS, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA, 1958-2020

Abstract

Mosque administration, the art of managing the mosque affairs, is usually the duty of an imam with the assistance of other personnel. Existing studies on mosque administration in southwestern Nigeria focused mainly on community mosques and those in tertiary institutions, with little attention paid to those in police formations. This study was, therefore, designed to examine mosque administration in police formations, southwestern Nigeria, from 1958, when the first mosque in the police formations was built at Obalende Barracks, Lagos, to 2020, when some of the mosques witnessed accelerated structural development. This was with a view to identifying the types and development of mosques, the functions of the mosque administrators and the administrative structure. The historical method was adopted, while the interpretive design was utilised. Primary and secondary sources were used. Primary sources included oral interviews conducted with 42 key informants, aged between 25 and 60 years, selected from the six southwestern states: 30 police (12 superior officers, 12 of the Inspector cadres and six of the rank and file) and 12 non-police worshippers (two from each state).Secondary sources included books, journal articles, theses and internet materials. The data were subjected to historical analysis. Two types of mosque identified in the police formations were central and rātib mosques. The central mosques are the types where, apart from the observance of five daily prayers, there was provision for observance of jumu‘ah (Friday) prayers. The rātibmosques were where there was provision for the observance of five daily prayers alone. Between 1960 and 1970, 16 and 13 mosques were built in Lagos and Ogun States, respectively. Between 1980 and 1990, 40 more were built across all the states. By 2020, the number of mosques increased to 168. Three functions of mosque administrators were identified: provision of sound Islamic teaching, spiritual reformation, counselling and arbitration. Islamic teachings included post-salawāt (ritual prayers) sermons, weekend madārīs (schools) and tafsīr(Qur’ānic exegesis), which acquainted the Muslim police officers with the tenets of Islam. Spiritual reformations comprised exhortations, du‘ā’ (supplications) and i’tikāf (seclusion). These were prominent in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States, and were meant to enable officers to carry out Islamic rituals as expected and to relieve them of the feelings of emptiness during periods of adversity. Counselling and arbitration included pre-marital counselling and post-marital arbitration, which were to reduce the rate ofdivorce and crisis among officers. Decentralisation and centralisation were identified as the two structures of mosque administration. Between 1958 and 2006, authorities were decentralised among the administrators, when mosque administration was under the control of the non-commissioned Imams and civilian volunteer imams. Between 2006 and 2020, authorities were centralised, when the administration of mosques came under the control of commissioned imams with non-commissioned imams and civilian volunteer imams as subordinates. Between 1958 and 2020, mosque administration in police formations in southwestern Nigeria changed in structure from decentralisation to centralisation, while the mosque administrators functioned in various capacities such as provision of sound Islamic teachings, spiritual reformations, counseling and arbitrations.