Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif received, on Tuesday at the headquarters of Al-Azhar, Mr. Naura Abba Remy, Ambassador of Nigeria to Cairo, accompanied by Mr. Bashir Ma’aji, Mr. Zakaria Osman, Plenipotentiary Ministers of the Nigerian Embassy, and Mr. Kabiru Abu Bakar, President of the Nigerian Community Association. At the beginning of the meeting, the Nigerian Ambassador thanked the Grand Imam for his support for the causes of Muslims around the world, especially the Muslims of Africa and his country Nigeria by providing scholarships to enrol the children of Muslims in Al-Azhar University and its institutes, training Nigerian imams at Al-Azhar Academy for Training Imams and Preachers, and taking honourable positions towards the issues of the Muslim nation all over the world. The Grand Imam and the Nigerian Ambassador discussed ways to raise the level of Nigerian students who come to study at Al-Azhar University to meet the requirements of the Nigerian labor market, and overcome the challenges that Nigeria faces, especially in the field of refuting extremist ideas.  

On his part, the Grand Imam affirmed Al-Azhar's support for the Muslims of Nigeria, noting that Al-Azhar's responsibility towards the Nigerien society stems from its historical role in supporting the African continent, adding that Al-Azhar is pleased to allocate 150 scholarships for the Nigerian students to enrol in Al-Azhar University in various scientific disciplines, and to host Nigerian imams to be trained at Al-Azhar International Academy for the Training of Imams and Preachers in order to meet  the requirements of the Nigerian society in a way that helps it face the present  challenges.