Mr. Muhammad Nuruddeen Lemu is the Director of Research and Training at the Da’wah Institute (DIN), a Trustee and General Secretary of the Islamic Education Trust (IET) in Minna, Nigeria. Along with his team, he develops, and facilitates training courses in enhancing inter-faith engagement, intra-faith cooperation, building resilience against various forms of religious extremism among Muslims, and promoting faith-based critical thinking (“Shari’ah Intelligence”) for Muslim leaders and activists.
He is on the board of several organizations including: Lotus Capital (Halal Investments) Limited, Lotus Bank Ltd., the Development Initiative of West Africa (DIWA), Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC), the Maqasid Institute (Canada), and the Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS), Nigeria. He is a co-founder of the Regional Centre for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE), Minna, and a member of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Da’wah Coordination Council of Nigeria (DCCN).
He holds positions on the boards of several other organisations that focus on issues related to social welfare, entrepreneurship, leadership, governance and public policy, peace-building, preventing violent extremism, education, environment and sustainable development, family life, youth empowerment, women’s rights and gender justice. He is an adjunct researcher and lecturer with the Islamic Law Department, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
Mr. Lemu has co-authored just over 20 books, has trained and given talks in over 30 countries, and has moderated and produced more than 300 multimedia, radio and television programmes. In 2023, he was given the Nigerian National Honours Award of “Officer of the Order of the Niger” (OON.) by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in the same year, the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum Award, UAE.
He is a Fellow of Aspen Leadership Institute (ALI) and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), Colorado, USA; a Fellow of the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), Lisbon, Portugal; of the Network of Faith-Based Mediators, Berghof Foundation, Berlin, Germany; of the Africa Leadership Initiative – West Africa (ALIWA); on the Advisory Board of the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, Helsinki, Finland, and on the Global Faith Council of The ONE Campaign, USA. He holds an MSc. in Resource Management from Edinburgh University, UK, and a first degree in Agriculture from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
His personal motto is “Growth and contribution with compassion, wisdom, faith and fun”.