How to achieve an egalitarian society, by Minister

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

Minister of Mines and Steel, Arch Abdul-Hakeem Olamilekan Adegbite, Thursday urged Nigerians to assist the needy. This, he said, could be done through the payment of Zakat by Muslims.

He spoke at the 6th Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation Zakat Distribution in Abuja.

Adegbite stated that an egalitarian society will be attainable if human beings adhere to the instructions of Allah.

While commending the foundation for resuscitation a forgotten pillar of Islam (Zakat), the minister described Jaiz Foundation’s gesture over the years as commendable.

In his remarks, Chairman of Jaiz Bank Plc, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, hailed efforts of the management and board of the foundation, while praising the Zakat payers and enjoined other Muslims to emulate them, even as he admonished the beneficiaries to make good use of the materials gotten.

Chairman of the foundation, Mallam Adamu Bello, said the it was committed to putting smiles on the faces of the less-privileged and vulnerable persons.

“We do this, in order to save lives, give the poor and needy a sense of belonging and facilitate a decent life style for them…It is no longer news that the effect of covid-19 on the economy is very bad. The adverse effect of this pandemic has disrupted businesses and the consequences on the standards of living of the poor households in the country are better imagined than experienced, hence our intervention to assist the people,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Dr Abdullahi Shuaib, said Jaiz was poised to complementing the efforts of the Federal Government as well as state governments to tackle the menace of poverty and bridging the gap of inequality among the people.

To achieve this, he said, the Foundation was equipped with two major Islamic social finance instruments – Zakat and Awqaf to accomplish its goal.

According to him, N50.1 million was disbursed to 838 beneficiaries in Lagos, Taraba, Katsina and Abuja.

Shuaib said: “In the past few days ago, we have disbursed Zakat funds to the tune of N32,772,653.31 to 304 beneficiaries. Today, a total number of 534 beneficiaries are benefitting from Zakat fund of N12,780,000 across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Thus, making the total Zakat disbursement for the year under review increased to N50,052,653.31 to 838 beneficiaries covering Lagos, Taraba, Katsina and FCT.

“It is also important to mention that high premium was placed on the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations which is quality education for the Nigerian children. From the total disbursement, N23,235,153.31 was allotted to 270 beneficiaries, which again was the highest number according to the thematic areas of focus representing 51 percent of the total disbursement. Taking the second place was SDG 1 (No Poverty) which was allotted N11,915,000 to 166 beneficiaries.

“This represented 26 percent while of the total disbursement. The third and fourth thematic areas were SGD 3 (Good health and Well-being) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) which were allotted N5,697,500 and N4,705,00 representing 13 percent and 10 percent respectively of the total Zakat fund. The balance of N4,500,000 was expended on Administrative and logistics, which represents 9 percent.”