WB How I32 persons were empowered with N13m from NAZAS
In what has become a norm, Nasfat Agency for Zakat and Sadaqat recently demonstrated how to be one’s brother’s keeper at the annual Muharram disbursement of Zakat and Sadaqat.
A total of 132 less-privileged women went home with vocational tools and cash donations worth N13 million at the event.
They had anxiously awaited the commencement of the disbursement ceremony at the hall of the Institute of Town Planners, Alausa, Ikeja, an annual programme organised by the NASFAT Agency for Zakat and Sadaqat (NAZAS), a humanitarian organization committed to touching the lives of the needy.
These were men and women who have seen the other side of life and were yearning and looking for a way out of the woods. Some of them were single mothers abandoned by their husbands who have left them to suffer in catering to the needs of their many children alone. Among them was Sekinat Lawal, a mother of three whose pathetic condition brings tears down one’s cheeks.
Some also were young, single and married men whose jobs and businesses had failed and were looking for a way to rise again. Equally among them were indigent students having hard times in meeting the financial demands of their education.
So having been told about the NAZAS’ benevolence acts to people of their sort, and having applied and were selected as beneficiaries, they came to the disbursement ceremony with high hopes. They could see different cartons of business tools in one corner of the hall staring at them. These included brand new grinding machines, binding machines, printers, photocopiers, refrigerators, power generating sets, among others.
They waited patiently. The programme finally started but with the organisation’s annual general meeting which takes place before the disbursement. With the AGM done, presentation of items began in full swing as the beneficiaries filed out as they were called. In line with their needs, each of the 132 beneficiaries was presented with one brand new business tool and a cheque for N25, 000 to support themselves.
A student among them who was placed on scholarship received a cheque for N50,000 to take care of her academic needs. This brings the amount spent on the 132 beneficiaries to N13 million, it was gathered.
Origin of NAZAS
NASFAT Agency for Zakat and Sadaqat (NAZAS) is a non-governmental, notfor-profit humanitarian organisation established within the Islamic family with the sole aim of taking care of the needy and less-privileged in the society. This is realised through contributions by public spirited individuals who donate some part of their yearly earnings in form of Zakat.
Committed to touching lives, the agency swung into action immediately through empowerment and scholarship programmes.
With the latest 132 beneficiaries, NAZAS has impacted over 500 persons from students on educational scholarship support, which cut across primary, secondary, tertiary, visually impaired, law school and prison inmates. NAZAS also embarked on empowerment and business support for persons/SMEs, debts bail-out for debtors; and medical support to persons having health issues. It has also provided accommodations to a number of persons and supported many small businesses to enable them grow.
Upon receiving the items, the 132 beneficiaries could not hide their joy. As they looked at their cheques and held their brand new business tools, they were all smiles as their hopes have been restored by the philanthropic organisation.
One of the beneficiaries was Alhaja Safiat Sakiru, who received a new grinding machine and a cheque of N25, 000 to support her business. Sakiru used to run a restaurant but could not continue when her business shut down due to lack of financial support. She applied for a business support to enable her start a foodstuff business and was luckily chosen. With this unexpected intervention by the humanitarian organisation, her life would certainly change for the better.
She said: “I got an SMS that I was one of the people chosen as beneficiaries. I was so elated. And today, they have fulfilled their promise; they gave me a new grinding machine and N25,000 cheque to start up a business. I’m overwhelmed by what NAZAS has done for me. The hope that I lost has been restored, this is unexpected; I’m so happy. May God bless them.”
Another beneficiary, Sekinat Lawal, a divorced mother of three, also got a grinding machine and a business support of N25,000. She sells pepper but lacked the needed tool and fund to scale up her business.
“I’m excited by what NAZAS has done for me. I thought they were joking when my brother told me about the empowerment but today I’ve confirmed it that they are there for people like us. Even when I’m not a member of NASFAT, they still remembered me. God will continue to guide them, and I’m confident that from next year I will be a donor.
For Miss Akiniyi Latifat Omotayo, a 300L Chemistry student at the Federal University Agriculture of Abeokuta (ABUAD), who got a cheque of N50,000 as education support, the kind gesture her helped her education pursuit.
“I feel so excited because I have been hoping for this kind of support for a very long time. So I feel really great and grateful today. Being in school has been hard, though my parents are the ones sponsoring me but it has not been easy for them; they don’t have much to support me,” Omotayo said.
Throwing more light on the empowerment exercise, the chairman of NAZAS and Managing Director of Accenture, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, said empowering the needy and the poor through the disbursement ceremony was one of the demands of the Holy Qur’an.
He explained that out of the N13 million doled out in the exercise, N10.5 million was given to those in the trade and empowerment category, pointing out that the area was more beneficial to the society and needed more investment.
He said: “So today, we have distributed N13 million in various categories: debt settlement, health, education scholarship, and also trade and empowerment. Of the N13 million, about N10.5 million is for those in the trade and empowerment category, which for me is significant because it means we are offering people to be productive; we are helping people to generate wealth for themselves and also to improve their self-esteem and dignity.
“Because once you are productive, once you are busy either as an SME, trader or as whatever, that allows you to generate income and that improves your sense of selfworth and self-dignity, which is important,” Mr Yusuf said.
He also said: “The gesture will impact on the individuals that collected the items today. It will also impact on their own immediate families. Those who have received refrigerators, milling machines and others, it means they will be able to take care of themselves and family and it will also add to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country as a whole. That means you have 132 persons from today’s act who are more productive; who will be generating products that will add to the growth and diversification of the Nigerian economy, “he concluded