Adedimeji Gets Key NSCIA Role as Council Expands National Affairs Portfolio
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has appointed Professor Mahfouz Adebola Adedimeji as Deputy Secretary-General in charge of National Affairs, placing the university administrator, scholar and communication expert in a newly defined leadership role within the apex body coordinating Islamic affairs in Nigeria.
The appointment was announced following the NSCIA General Assembly in Abuja, where Muslim leaders deliberated on issues concerning the Muslim community and the wider Nigerian society. The Council, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has expanded the Deputy Secretary-General structure into specialised portfolios covering international affairs, national affairs, corporate matters and administration.
Adedimeji’s appointment gives the National Affairs portfolio to an academic and institutional leader whose career has crossed university administration, peace and strategic studies, corporate communication, writing and public engagement.
A Professor of Pragmatics and Applied English Linguistics at the University of Ilorin, Adedimeji is currently Vice-Chancellor of the African School of Economics in Abuja. He was also the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Ahman Pategi University in Kwara State. The University of Ilorin identifies him as a Fulbright scholar and former Director of its Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies and Head of its Corporate Affairs Directorate.
His background in peace and strategic studies is particularly relevant to a national portfolio within the NSCIA, whose responsibilities extend beyond religious administration to issues affecting social cohesion, Muslim welfare and the relationship between the Muslim community and wider Nigerian society.
The Council’s expanded structure assigns Professor Salisu Shehu, who has served as a Deputy Secretary-General, to International Affairs. Mallam Abeny Mohammed, SAN, will oversee Corporate Matters, while Dr Bala Muhammad will be responsible for Administration. Professor Ahmed Jibrin Gwandu and Hajia Sekinat Lawal will serve as Public Relations Officer and Deputy Public Relations Officer respectively.
From academia to national religious leadership
Adedimeji’s career has included several roles requiring communication, institutional coordination and leadership.
At the University of Ilorin, he headed the Corporate Affairs Directorate between 2008 and 2012 and previously served as Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies. He has also been widely published and has worked as a columnist and consultant.
His recent public interventions have frequently addressed education, character, economic empowerment and social responsibility. In 2025, for example, he urged young Nigerians to confront poverty through proactive economic participation and stronger work ethics.
That experience potentially gives the new National Affairs office a broad institutional base from which to engage issues extending beyond internal religious administration.
A portfolio with a wider public responsibility
The significance of Adedimeji’s appointment will ultimately depend on how the National Affairs portfolio is defined and implemented by the NSCIA.
Nigeria’s Muslim community is not a homogeneous constituency. It encompasses diverse ethnic, regional, educational, socioeconomic and institutional interests. Effective national coordination therefore requires listening across those differences while maintaining constructive engagement with government, other faith communities, traditional institutions, civil society and professional bodies.
The NSCIA itself maintains standing committees covering areas including research and policy, youth and social welfare, media, international relations, economic affairs and legal affairs, providing an existing institutional framework through which national issues can be addressed.
For Adedimeji, the new responsibility therefore presents an opportunity to connect scholarship and institutional leadership with practical engagement on issues affecting Nigerian Muslims and the wider society.
Rather than measuring the appointment solely by the prominence of the office, its longer-term value will be seen in whether the National Affairs portfolio strengthens evidence-based advocacy, interfaith dialogue, youth development, educational advancement, social cohesion and constructive engagement on national questions.
The expanded NSCIA structure signals an effort to distribute responsibilities more clearly across specialised areas. For Professor Adedimeji, the immediate challenge is to translate the breadth of his academic and administrative experience into a national role capable of listening to diverse constituencies and helping the Council respond constructively to Nigeria’s evolving social and institutional needs.
