The Chairman of Jaiz Bank Plc, Alhaji Mustapha Bintube, has urged the Federal Government and governments at other levels to continue working on creation of an enabling environment for ease of doing business.
This, he said, would aid charity organisations that are assisting people with funds to establish businesses.
Alhaji Bintube spoke on Saturday, 2 September, 2023 during the grand finale of the annual Zakah distribution of Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation for the year 2023 in Abuja.
Materials including industrial sewing machines, grinding and washing machines, mixer, generator, vulcanised machine and cash were donated to thousands of beneficiaries.
According to the Jaiz Bank chief, when an enabled environment is in place for businesses to thrive, charity organisations would be encouraged to empower more people to establish businesses through their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Nigeria, he said, has no business being the poverty capital of the world.
“With all the God-given resources, and most important, the people with a lot of intelligence, hard working and entrepreneurship skills, poverty should not be prevalent in our country.
“So Jaiz is committed to be part of the solution to Nigeria’s problem especially when it comes to poverty alleviation, empowering our people and also by laying the ethical foundation for the young ones to grow with ethics, hard work and determination. They can also in turn, empower other people,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation, Dr Abdullahi Shuaib, said the foundation has disbursed over N431 million to 9,882 beneficiaries across 29 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since it began Zakah collection in 2016.
Dr Shuaib stated that over N66.5 million was disbursed to 1,156 people this year.
He said the foundation felt the pains and agonies of the poor, the needy and vulnerable people in the society due to the deplorable economic situation of the country.
He said: “We are more disturbed by available statistics and data which indicate that the toughest days ahead may better be imagined than experienced especially for the poor ones.
For instance, according to (World Poverty Clock, 2023), our country ranks 37 out of 172 countries while a total of 133 million population of Nigerians is regarded as multidimensionally poor by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“The unemployment rate of 37.7 per cent recorded in 2022 is projected to rise to 41 per cent in 2023 (KPMG). Most scaring is the continuous acceleration of the inflation rate from 22.79 per cent in June to 24.08 per cent in July, 2023. This is the highest inflation rate recorded in the country since 2005 according to the NBS with the highest upward contribution from cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages, oil & fat, breads, cereals, potatoes, yams, fish, meats, vegetables, housing, water, electricity, gas & fuel, and transportation among others.
“It is no longer news that both the middle and lower classes are groaning under an excruciating pains and difficulties to make ends meet. No thanks to the removal of subsidy coupled with the challenges of unstable monetary policy, consistent fluctuation of foreign exchange, accelerating inflation rate and a rise in the multidimensional poverty rate in the country.
“As a faith-based organisation, we are not discouraged by all the aforementioned challenges. We believe that challenges are meant to be overcome. We also know that the federal and state governments are working round the clock to salvage the situation from bad to good. We are more resolute and committed to the cause of Allah and humanity at this moment of severe hardship for the poor and vulnerable. It is also important to note that even the rich also cry. It is sad that we are experiencing a declining trend among some of our Zakah payers. They too are complaining of the harsh economic situation. We pray Allah continue to enrich their purses and bless their enterprises for shared prosperity.”
Chairman of Jaiz Takaful Insurance Ltd, Hajiya Zainab AbdurRahman, who chaired the event, said the gesture was geared towards improving the beneficiaries’ standard of living.
She urged the beneficiaries to put the items given to them into proper use.
Hajiya AbdurRahman said: “If they’re committed and dedicated enough, it will make them successful and they also can help other people.
“They need not to start looking for capital to buy the equipment for them to stand on their own. It has already been provided by Jaiz Charity and Development Foundation. This put them on many steps ahead of where ordinarily they would have been. That helps in making them immediate employer of labour. And when they make profits, they can also buy more machines, expand their businesses and help others make a living.”
