Ramadan: Sokoto earmarks N56.7m for purchase of grains, clothes for indigent persons

The Sokoto State Government has earmarked N56.7 million to buy food
and clothing materials for indigent persons during the Ramadan, an
official said on Saturday.
Alhaji Lawal Maidoki, the Chairman of Sokoto State Zakkat and
Endowment Committee, made the plan known to the News Agency of Nigeria in Sokoto.
Maidoki said the items included 6,300 bags of grains and 6,420
clothing materials, adding that the grains, namely millet, maize and
guinea-corn, would cost N 50.4 million.
Maidoki said: “No fewer than 6,300 indigent persons, both men and
women, including widows and widowers, would benefit from the annual
gesture by the state government.
“Governor Aliyu Wamakko has also approved an additional N31.5 million
for the donation of N5,000 to each of the beneficiaries for
transportation and other logistics.
“The beneficiaries will be drawn from the 63 districts of the 23 local government areas of the state.
“The gesture is as usual aimed at enabling them to break their fasts
with relative ease.”
Maidoki said 6,420 orphans selected from the 63 districts would get
6,420 pieces of cloths worth N6.3 million for the Sallah celebrations.
Maidoki commended Wamakko for sustaining the annual gesture to the
poor, considering that they were also members of the society.
Meanwhile, the chairman condemned the preponderance of street beggars
in the state in spite of the payment of N6,500 each to 6,923
physically challenged persons monthly by the state government.
He said: “The state government spends N45 million in this direction
and unfortunately beggars are daily dotting the streets of Sokoto and
its environs.
“Begging is not allowed by Islam. Even if one is in serious need or a
problem, he or she is allowed to seek for help only to solve that
particular problem.
“Commercialising begging or turning it into a business venture is
abhorred by Islam and nobody should engage in it.”