ZSF to disburse N102m zakat in Lagos

A faith-based humanitarian organisation, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF), will on Sunday disburse N102,251,490 to indigents in Lagos.

The annual zakat distribution ceremony, 12th of its kind, to be chaired by the Group Managing Director of Complete Communication Limited, Alhaji Mumuni Alao, will hold at the Alausa Secretariat Central Mosque auditorium, Ikeja, at 11.00 a.m.

ZSF Executive Director, Prince Sulayman Olagunju, in an interview, said the empowerment programme was targeted at raising the economic status of the needy.

Olagunju said the foundation would also distribute equipment to entrepreneurs.

Part of the fund, he noted, would go to youths having challenges in their academic pursuit and others with critical accommodation problems.

“Various beneficiaries are going to go home with tricycles, motorcycles and all of sorts of equipment for empowerment like grinding machines, refrigerators and sewing machines. Others will be going away with cash to prosecute their business plans.

“The unique thing about this year’s distribution is the fact that most of the beneficiaries already have their shops. So, instead of using the funds to rent shops, they will use them to stock their shops with goods”, he said.

Meanwhile, Jaiz Zakat and Waqf Trust Fund (JZWTF) has disbursed N3.7 million to 121 people in Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River states.

The gesture, the organisation said, was to uplift the standards living of the beneficiaries.

The events were held in Port Harcourt, Yenagoa and Calabar.

JZWTF Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, said the organisation placed a high premium on humanity.

The organisation, according to Shuaib, does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of ethnicity or religion.

“We believe strongly that all people who are in need are creatures of Allah and so they deserve to be supported without any string attached. More importantly, Allah instructs us to invite to that which is good and forbid evil. Helping the weak, improving the living conditions of the needy, vulnerable and the underprivileged is our major goal. We, therefore, beckon on well-meaning Nigerians to cooperate with us on this path of righteousness and piety in order to move our country forward.

“Our vision is to create a better society through kindness. Hence, our services are geared towards inspiring, honouring and empowering the poorest of the poor as well as supporting the wealthy ones to reach out to their fellow citizens occupying the lower socio-economic ladder of the society”, he said.

Shuaib said of the N3.7 million disbursed, economic empowerment took 50.66 per cent (N1,875,000) for 71 beneficiaries; educational support, 44.33 percent (N1,639,500) for 42 beneficiaries and five percent (N185,000) for eight beneficiaries.

He said: “When we feel concerned as individuals or as a group about the plights of the poor and give helping hands to Nigerians in need, then, we would be fulfilling the scriptural text of being our brothers’ keepers as mentioned by Prophet Muhammad who says ‘The parable of the faithful in their affection, compassion and mercy to one another is like the entire body such that if one of its organs is afflicted with an ailment, the whole body will suffer from fever and insomnia’”.