From Abdullahi Adamu Gusau
A weekly assistance programme has been introduced by Zamfara state Zakat Collection and Endowment Board to aid orphans and less privileged persons across the state.The programme was the brain child of the state governor, Dr. Dauda Lawal to reduce the economic hardship challenging the social welfare of vulnerable people in the state.
According to the Chairman of the board, Sheikh Ahmad Umar Kanoma, the programme has so far assisted five hundred and thirty one persons in different ways. He explained that the beneficiaries included those with educational and rent payment problems. Others were those with health and mental incapacitation including those with business and marriage problems.
Sheikh Ahmad Umar noted that the board was utilizing the resources it generated through Zakat and endowment according to divine injunction of helping the needy out of their difficulties. He therefore emphasized the need for philanthropists and wealthy individuals members of the society to assist the board accomplish its commitment by giving out Zakat and endowment to the board.
In his remarks at the distribution event, Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of the board, Malan Habibu Muhammad Balarabe Zawiyya, stressed that the board was continuously recieving different demands for
assistance from the general public and that effort was being made to screen and treat them judiciously.
He then appealed to the applicants to be patient and hopeful. He similarly enjoined the Muslim community and other people in the state to appreciate government’s relief measures and pray for its success.
