Lado, who spearheaded the initiative, said the competition was to immortalise the late matriarch of the Tinubu family while encouraging the younger generation to memorise and live by the teachings of the Qur’an.

Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony, Ali Muhammad, deputy chairman of the organising committee, said the initiative was conceived to keep Tinubu’s mother’s legacy alive.

Muhammad said the competition also sought to “inculcate the virtues of the Holy Book in the minds of young Muslim Nigerians”.

More than 100 young reciters from the 44 LGAs of Kano participated in the competition.

At the end of the competition, four top performers were presented with brand-new houses.

Winners are Maryam Abubakar Mu’az (first position, female), Ahmad Shu’aib (first position, male), Zainab Hassan Shu’aib (second position, female), and Ahmad Kabir Baturi (second position, male).

The top winners — a male and a female — each received three-bedroom houses with a parlour.

The second-place winners received two-bedroom houses, also with a parlour.

Muhammad described the houses as “luxurious”, saying the rewards were designed to inspire continued devotion to Qur’anic teachings.

“This gesture is a way to encourage and motivate young Muslims to continue memorising and reciting the Qur’an and make it a way of their lives so that they would be patriotic citizens for the good of the nation,” he said.

Muhammad reaffirmed that the event was a tribute to the late Abibatu Mogaji Tinubu.

Dignitaries who attended the opening of the event two weeks ago included former President Muhammadu Buhari, Umar Faruk, the Emir of Daura, and Hadi Sirika, former aviation minister.