The Interim Chairman of the NASFAT Agency for Zakat and Sadaqah (NAZAS), Alhaji Abdulwahab Abdurrahman, has said that the agency has so far been mobilised N700m and disbursed since its establishment in 2014.
Alhaji Abdurrahman said over 60,000 indigents have benefitted including over 3000 direct beneficiaries through regular public disbursement on health and education.
He spoke on the sidelines of the NAZAS’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and distribution of Zakat to the less privileged.
The event featured the ratification of appointment of three Directors made by the Board of Directors between October and December 2023. They are Imam Saheed Adekunle, Alhaja Kuburat Lawal and Prof. Maruf Adelekan. Also, the immediate former chairman, Alhaji Hafiz Bakare, and ex-Directors – Dr. Nosiru Onibon and Alhaja Shareefah Andu, were honoured with awards for their contributions.
According to Alhaji Abdurrahman, the items distributed would go a long way in ameliorating the suffering of the masses.
He said: “As an agency we have been able to sustain the consolidation of accounts of zones as they evolve which has basically led to our crossing the N100 million mark in Zakat and Sadaqat collections within a single year achieved in 2021 and has been maintained till date.
“We have continuously attended to the need of people with urgent health requests as well as provided educational scholarship grants to over 200 students annually while not relenting in organizing Health missions in communities which had benefitted over 3,500 indigents.
“The Train-to-Fund Scheme (TTFS) which is a platform to facilitate a combined offer of training/skills acquisition followed by financial empowerment of selected beneficiaries in different categories has continued to produce more alumni since the inauguration of the pioneer set of beneficiaries…”
“This is our tenth year, and we have collected well over N700 million as zakat. To be specific for this year, as at June, we collected about N154 million. Today, across all our zones and headquarters, we are disbursing N130 million to over 300 beneficiaries. From the balance of N20 million, some funds will be disbursed later, and a part will account for the running cost.”
He complained that the forex exchange made it difficult for many Nigerians to meet up with the Nisab (financial threshold for qualifying to pay zakat)
“By December, we will have Food and Clothing Day, most of our previous beneficiaries support the initiative. Aside that, our beneficiaries have been giving back in other ways. For instance, the plaques we gave to our past directors were made by one of them. He has also been training people on the trade. So, they have been giving back materially too,” he said.
National Missioner of NASFAT, Sheikh Abdulaziz Onike admonished Muslims that the current economic downturn in the country should not be an excuse for Muslims to stop paying zakat once they can afford it.
“Allah has never promised us that everything will go on smoothly all the time. It is even now that some people are making money. Everybody is complaining that there is no money, but some people are smiling to the banks. Regardless of the economic situation, the Muslim community should continue to give zakat to the vulnerable. It is a religious duty. There will always be people who can afford to pay zakat, and they must pay it.”
Credit: The Nation
