N345m Zakat uplifts the less privileged in Zamfara

But just when all hope seemed lost, benevolence smiled on her. She was selected by the Zamfara State Zakat Foundation as one of this year’s beneficiaries of the Zakat given out twice a year by Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari.She was all smiles when she joined the 3,450 less privileged people in the state last month to […]

But just when all hope seemed lost, benevolence smiled on her. She was selected by the Zamfara State Zakat Foundation as one of this year’s beneficiaries of the Zakat given out twice a year by Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari.
She was all smiles when she joined the 3,450 less privileged people in the state last month to receive N100,000 each given out by the state government.
Governor Yari, who presented the monies at a ceremony in Gusau, said the government shared N345 million as Zakat to 3,450 needy people over a week’s period, in line with Qur’anic injunctions.
He said 15 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 230 districts of the 17 emirate councils in the state, and each person received N100,000 to start a business.
Each of the recipients is also expected to use the money to generate enough money to give out Zakat in 2015, he added.
Yari said the amount shared was deducted as 2 per cent from all contracts given by the state government during the past year.
“The balance of such deductions would be invested into business ventures by the board to generate more money to assist the needy in setting up businesses, arranging marriages and supporting medical bills,” he said.
The programme was aimed at reducing poverty among the less privileged, he also said, and urged wealthy individuals in the state to continue supporting the Zakat board.
A 72-year-old beneficiary, Ibrahim Sani, promised to invest the money in a lucrative business.