Foundation empowers Muslim faithful in Ebonyi
Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF), a non-governmental humanitarian organisation, on Sunday in Abakaliki empowered no fewer than 50 Muslim faithful in Ebonyi.
The beneficiaries who received different empowerment materials and various amounts of cash donations were selected from across the various Muslim communities across the state.
Mr Suleiman Olaruwanju, the Executive Director of the foundation, in an interview said that the the sole objective of the foundation was to provide social and financial support to the less privileged and downtrodden members of the society.
According to him, the foundation generates its empowerment funds from donations made by public-spirited individuals, especially Muslim faithful, for the purpose of caring for the poor and vulnerable.
“We are supporting government’s initiative to eradicate poverty in our society and what we use mostly is ‘Zakat’ collected from our brothers and sisters who know that Zakat is part of their religion and they pay the Zakat which is two and half per cent of their excess money.
“Somebody with N1 million will just return N25,000, somebody with N2 million will pay N50,000 and when we put the money together, we identify the beneficiaries; those who are in dire need in the society, those who cannot afford equipment that they need.
“Those who have actually gotten training and they need to be empowered; certified tailors, artisans but unfortunately cannot afford to buy their equipment,” Olaruwanju said.
He enjoined beneficiaries to use the items donated to them by putting them into good use in order to be able to give to others.
“All of them who have received the empowerment materials are going to be out of poverty. Their joy will know no bounds.
“I urge them to utilise the materials in order to justify the reason for receiving the items and also to be a source of empowerment to others,” he added.
Dr Haroun Aja, Vice chairman, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), South-East zone and facilitator of the programme in Ebonyi, admonished beneficiaries to use the items to enhance their economic status.
He warned against selling or diverting the items, stressing that a monitoring team had been established to monitor beneficiaries.
“For us, charity is the peak of all the businesses we can do in this world because it concerns our religion; empowerment and growth of humans are bigger than any business anybody can do and that’s why we left all that we are doing to be part of this.
“I urge beneficiaries to utilise the items they received and to use them to touch lives and become sources of empowerment to others,” Aja said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the foundation distributed items worth over N2 million, including one deep freezer; four sewing machines, one laser jet colour printer, one giant cassava grinding machine, among others.
NAN also reports that 37 persons received cash donations for educational support and economic empowerment respectively.
Mr Umar Danjuma and Mrs Rahaman Aliyu, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, commended the foundation for providing them with the empowerment materials and promised to put the items into good use. (NAN)
