Alhaji Dawood Akanni Agbeniga
The entire Kumasi Zongo community went agog last Saturday when the CEO of Khallifa Investment Limited and the Chairman of Fly TV, Alhaji Dawood Akanni Agbeniga, was installed the Baba Adini and Sarkin Adini of the Ashanti Region.
It was a moment when all the ethnic groups making up the Zongo community joined hands to support the installation, a double honour.
To the many Yorubas in Kumasi and the Ashanti Region, Baba Adini refers to the leader of the Muslims, and to the Hausas, the businessman is now Sarkin Adini, that is father of the Islamic faith in the Ashanti Region.
The turbanning ceremony was one which saw peace and togetherness prevailing among the many divergent ethnic groups in the Ashanti Regional capital.
In previous times, such a joint turbanning by both Hausas and Yorubas would have been a feat only imaginable, but in the case of this Accra-based businessman who was born in the Ashanti Region, the story is different.
The Sarkin Zongo of Ashanti Region, Sultan Alhaji Umar Farouk Saeed, could not hide his happiness for the occasion as he turbanned the title Sarkin Adini and Baba Adini. Of course as Sarkin Adini, Alhaji Dawood would be at the beck and call of the Sarkin Zongo as well as the Yoruba Chief of Ashanti Region in the service to Islam.
Many people thronged the venue of the turbanning to catch a glimpse of the rare moment of one person clinging double titles. Well-wishers came from as far away as Tamale, Accra and even outside the country.
A senator from Nigeria flew in for the ceremony as well as Chief Hamza Peregrino-Brimah VIII of Accra who had earlier honoured the businessman with two titles. Also present for the function were the Yoruba Chief of Kasoa, Chief Ahaji Saka Salami, as well as top Islamic clerics such as Sheikh Zaeem Sheikh Abdul Wadudu.
Following his turbanning, Alhaji Dawood, who was born in the Ashanti Region, expressed his gratitude for all those who contributed towards the occasion, as he gave the assurance that he would live up to their expectation.
He rendered appreciation and gratitude to
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Ashanti Regional Minister and the entire Yoruba community in Ghana.
