Fawaz Adebisi
The Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, Ogun State, on Sunday distributed N51 million in cash and material support to 74 beneficiaries, including widows and students, at its 2026 Zakat Distribution Ceremony, ZDC.
Themed “Zakat & Social Responsibility: Strengthening Economic Security, Community Cohesion, and National Peace,” the event held at the Crescent, Muslim Professionals, Hall, Leme, Abeokuta, on the 6th day of Muharram 1448 AH.
The disbursed package comprised cash grants, industrial equipment, including sewing, washing and stone-cutting machines, clothing materials, ovens, payment of school fees, and debt settlement for beneficiaries across the state’s Egba/Yewa zone.
Giving his welcome speech, the Egba/Yewa Zone Coordinator of the foundation, Alhaji TPL Abdulrahman Anifowose, said the 74 beneficiaries were selected from 240 applications received, of which 190 qualified on merit.
Anifowose, however, said the foundation could not meet the full scale of need, noting that an estimated N400 million would have been required to support all qualified applicants.
“We sincerely apologise, because the total amount needed to fulfil [the need] is N400 million, which is not enough,” he said.
He said the beneficiaries included 18 indigent students, 12 widows, and a Christian, among others, adding that two of the listed beneficiaries had already received their support earlier on account of emergency circumstances.
The students, he said, were supported by the Wuraola Shadiya Educational Waqf, which primarily assists students unable to pay their school fees.
Anifowose further disclosed that the Egba/Yewa zone alone generated N46 million in zakat contributions this cycle, while total contributions raised across the zone, including waqf and other donations, exceeded N90 million.
In the same vein, he revealed that between 2020 and 2026, the foundation has supported about 400 beneficiaries with a cumulative total of N160 million in zakat distributions, separate from Sunday’s N51 million package.
“If you’re not zakatable, you’re sodaqotable,” he told the gathering, urging those yet to fulfil their zakat obligations to give through sadaqah instead.
During his opening remarks as chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Abdullateef Ayilara, who heads the Ogun State Waste Management Authority, OGWAMA, described zakat as one of the five pillars of Islam that is frequently neglected compared to prayer, fasting and pilgrimage.
“Without zakat, we will have thieves, kidnappers and many other atrocities in the society,” Ayilara said, though he added that poverty was “not an excuse” for such acts.
He urged beneficiaries to pay the gesture forward by becoming zakat or sadaqah givers in future years, saying, “I pray this kind of programme multiplies, so we can have mercy on ourselves as Muslims.”
Delivering the lecture, Alh. (Imam) CSC Shafiu Omojole, Head of the Commandant Secretariat, Edo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, linked widespread poverty and insecurity in Nigeria to the neglect of zakat obligations, particularly among Muslims in the country’s north.
“Out of three beggars today, two are Muslims. It is now as if Islam embraces begging. What about zakat?” Omojole said.
Omojole, who is also the Mudir of Maadud-Dawah Wadirosatul Islamiyah wal Arobiyah, Idiya Rounda, Abeokuta, described zakat, derived from a root meaning growth, increase, purification and blessing, as the third pillar of Islam and a compulsory, not voluntary, religious obligation.
“Solat refines our relationship with God, and zakat refines our relationship among ourselves,” he said, distinguishing the two obligations.
The lecturer linked poverty to rising social ills including kidnapping, divorce and homelessness, stressing that multiplying zakat in the country would benefit Nigerians.
A goodwill message from the Chief Imam of Egbaland, As-Shaykh Sa’adullahi Bamigbola, delivered on his behalf by Sheikh Tajudeen Adeosun, Olori Adeen of Egbaland, commended the foundation for its sustained annual impact.
“Don’t take this zakat as a free offering. We are giving you so you can give others. Givers never lack, and we should not always expect to receive; we should always be willing to give too,” Adeosun said on behalf of the Chief Imam.
Speaking on behalf of the foundation’s Executive Director/CEO, Alhaji Prince Sulayman Olagunju, Dr Lukman Adewuyi called for stronger government support for poverty alleviation efforts in the state.
“N160 million is a security vote for a governor in a month, and this amount was spent in six years for zakat. The government should be able to do it well,” Adewuyi said, contrasting the scale of the foundation’s charitable distributions with what he described as a governor’s monthly security vote.
He also urged beneficiaries to utilize the opportunity and not “misuse or sell items given to them.”
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