Jaiz Zakat disburses N40m to 1,119 beneficiaries

NO fewer than 1,119 beneficiaries have received cash and materials worth N40,146,000 from Jaiz Zakat and Waqf Trust Fund (JZWTF) as zakat proceed.

The beneficiaries were drawn from the South East, South South, North East and North Central (Abuja).

At the Abuja distribution, last week, held at the Conference Hall of the National Mosque, Abuja, JZWTF Executive Director, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, lamented what he called the increasing rate of poverty in the country.

Shuaib expressed regret that access to housing, medical and educational services were out of reach of the poor in the country.

This, he said, accounted for 98.52 per cent of the entire zakat fund disbursed given to the needy across the aforementioned four regions of the country.

He noted that wealthy Nigerian Muslims could make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged by paying their zakat as and when due.

He explained that N4.9 million zakat fund was disbursed in the South East, N3.6 million in the South South, N28 million in North East while Abuja in North Central got N3.5 million.

“The Zakat allotment in the North East was more than and even doubled what we disbursed in both the South East and South South regions as indicated.

The reasons for this are not far-fetched. We had to contend with the continued increase in the population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), victims of Boko Haram that needed to be resettled and reconnected to their natural habitat and the adverse effect of poverty in the region”, he said.

Imam Shuaib urged all beneficiaries to use their zakat money and items judiciously and redouble their efforts so that they too could begin to support others in the years ahead.

JZWTF acting chairman, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, said the Abuja edition marked a new dawn in the zakat and awqaf sector in the country.

Alhaji AbdulMutallab said: “We are poised and committed to taking zakat and awqaf administration to greater heights throughout the length and breadth of the country. Our focus is to impart positive values in the life of the common man as well as uplift the living standards of the poor and the most vulnerable people in the country. Hence, the choice of our core values with the acronym CARE, which stands for Competency, Accountability, Reliability and Empowerment of the underprivileged.

“To this end, our management team is not resting on its oars. Within four months of kick-starting our operations last year, we collected over N40 million as zakat from individual Muslims. So far, we have distributed N36,600,000 zakat fund  in Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Insha’Allah, today (Wednesday last week), we are set to conclude the remaining distribution of N3,527,000 to 60 beneficiaries from all the six local council areas in the Federal Capital Territory.”