By Abdulfatah Babatunde
A faith-based charitable organisation, the Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) says it collected N871,971,965 zakat within three years from 2021, using these to empower 10,439 Nigerian beneficiaries.
Prince Sulayman Olagunju, the Executive Director of ZSF, announced this in an exclusive interview with TheNewsZenith on Friday in Lagos.
Olagunju said the ZSF came into existence in 2000 and incorporated in 2006.
Over the years, he said zakat collection has steadily risen. This is in terms of the amount of collection, number of benefactors and beneficiaries.
He said this indicates that many Muslims are becoming conscious of their religious obligation. They are now willingly purifying their wealth by paying the zakat from their wealth.
TheNewsZenith reports that payment of zakat is obligatory for wealthy Muslims. It is the third pillar of the Islamic creed.
“Our foundation (ZSF) came into being in 2000, almost 24 years ago now, and it was incorporated in 2006.
“From inception to date, we’ve been impacting positively on the lives of downtrodden poor people.
“We do this through collections and distribution of zakat and sadaqat from the wealthy Muslims to the indigents.
“I can say that quite a several people have benefited from our charity activities. We have windows from our charity activities.
“We have what we call business plan competition, which tries to identify viable economic ideas.
“ We support them with cash, training and we support them with mentorship and ideas. Many of them are now empowered and are running their businesses.
“We’ve been in existence for a while. I can say that we have spent over N70 million to bring the best out of our youths.
Read Related News:
Video: Foundation urges quick resolution of FG, Labour face-off
TMC urges FG to address escalating electricity crisis
Ramadan: Foundation, Armed Forces preach religious harmony
Organised labour throws Nigeria into darkness, shuts national grid.
Eid-ul-Kabir: Cleric commends Nigerians for voting Tinubu
“ Many of them are now running their businesses after the empowerment.
“We collect Zakat usually around August because most people usually like to pay their Zakat during Ramadan.’’
In the last three years from 2021, he said ZSF had collected N837,871,965. It also disbursed the same amount to 10,379 beneficiaries across 27 states.
“ So, zakat collected around that time in 2021 amounted to 255,500,657. We distributed this bulk sum to 3,199 beneficiaries across 20 states.
“The zakat collected in 2022, as of August, is about N287,493,887. We equally distributed same to 3,566 beneficiaries across 25 states.
“In 2023, we collected N294,680,411 and distributed to 3,824 beneficiaries across 27 states,’’ ZSF boss said.
Business plan competition is another important window of charity that ZSF is using to alleviate poverty among the Nigerian populace, irrespective of their religious creed.
In 2021, Olagunju said ZSF collected N12.3 million and distributed it to 21 beneficiaries.
“Also in 2022, we collected N11.5 million for distribution to 19 beneficiaries. In 2023, N10.4m was distributed to 20 beneficiaries.
“For the past three years, the number of entrepreneurs we have turned into the industry is 60.
“The total amount of money given to them amounts to N34.1 million,’’ TheNewsZenith quoted Olagunju as saying.
He thanked zakat paying benefactors, assuring them of the judicious application of the fund to empower the indigents in the society according to the Islamic jurisprudence.
Do you have a flair for Citizenship Journalism? Share story(ies) of happenings in your area with TheNewsZenith on WhatsApp: 08033668669 or thenewszenithonline@gmail.com
