Over the last two years, Turkeys intervention in Nigeriaeducation, economy, health etcrose to dizzying heights, long before the entrenchment of the current brouhaha about what is true and what is not, since the coup detat which threatened that countrys unity.This intervention has come in a number of way, paying great attention to the needs and wants of indigent Nigerians and helping them find kindness in the warm embrace of a foreign people who truly mean them well.The Turkish Diyanet Foundationan off-shoot of the Turkish Religious Affairs Directoratehas reached out to more than a few Nigerians in a number of ways, touching their lives and changing their outlook on live.The Turkiye Diyanet Foundation was established on 13 March 1975 by Dr. Ltfi Dogan who was the President of Religious Affairs at that time, and Dr. Tayyar Altkula and Yakup Ustun who were Vise Presidents of Religious Affairs, and Ahmet Uzunoglu who was the Director of Ozluk Affairs.The Presidency of Religious affairs aims to support activities set out by the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation. It has played an important role in reaching a wider audience of religious operations and in the upbringing of future generations to take part in conducting these religious services.Directed by its motto The best of the people are those who are most beneficial to others, the foundation which came into Nigeria a few years back has given precedence to social peace, harmony and tranquility in the development of societys religious, social, and cultural activities.In 2016, as part of efforts to attain the blessing of the Holy month of Ramadan through providing assistance to the needy, the foundation embarked on a Ramadan programme aimed at reaching out to the poor and the internally displaced people, through the provision of food items to 300 families within Abuja and 170 families at the Durumi IDPs camp, Apo. Also, 200 families converged at Nurul Bayan International School, Zone 6, Abuja for the collection of the food items. Each family was given a package weighing about 30.8kg (10kg rice, 10kg semovita, 5kg sugar, 5kg oil and 800g of tomato paste), at the cost of $13,729.80.This gesture was replicated in Maiduguri, Borno State, where insurgency has left many destitute and in need of support. Here, the foundation distributed food items to 250 families, each family receiving a package of 36 kg (10kg rice, 10kg semovita, 5kg sugar, 5kg oil, 5kg date and 1kg tomato paste). Also, 150 packages were distributed at Gwange 1 Ward IDPs camp and 100 packages at Annahda College. The total cost of the programme in Maiduguri was $10,237.50.Additionally, in the state, an iftar programme was organised at various locations to provide food for people in need during the breaking of fast, at the cost of $2,400. The total amount of money spent on Ramadan Program by the foundation in 2016 stood at $26,367.30.During the Eid Adha, the foundation joined fores with other players in Nigeria to distribute meat. This area has witnessed sustained growth in recent years, with various international organisations and charity foundations from Turkey coming in and organising meat distribution programmes, as it is an established practice in Islam to slaughter animals at this period and distribute to those who cannot afford to buy animals for sacrifice. In September 2016 Turkiye Diyanet Foundation joined other organizations in this programme for the first time and distributed meat to various organizations, mosques, villages and remote area within and outside the FCT, with funds sourced from Turkish individuals and families who gave part of their Qurban meat as alms and charity. During this period, the foundation and others slaughtered and distributed 608 cattle. Communities in Kuje, Lugbe, Mararaba, Kubwa, Gwagwalada, Bwari, Nyanya, Abaji, Gwarimpa, Zuba, Dei dei and many others were beneficiaries of the gesture. Outside the FCT, other states such as Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Zamfara and Kano also benefitted from the scheme. For that venture, the foundation spent the total sum of $87, 450.00.In attempt to encourage competition and expertise in the area of Quran recitation, the foundation introduced an International Quran recitation competition sponsorship programme, in which Nigerians are sponsored to participate in the yearly International Quran Recitation competition in Turkey. In 2016 two candidates were sponsored from Nigeria with visa, ticket, accommodation and living expenses covered. The 2017 edition of the same program is underway.The Islamic Promotion Initiative of Nigeria is an organization registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to carry out Islamic activities such as Islamic quiz competition, Quran recitation competition, lectures, conferences and other Islamic activities.Being an organisation in the fore-front of the advancement the course of Quran recitation, the organisation has received an invitation to present participants who will represent Nigeria in the forthcoming International Quran Recitation Competition organised by Presidency of Religious Affairs, Republic of Turkey and scheduled for May 2017 in Turkey. In order to present the best reciters to represent the country at the international competition, the Islamic Promotion Initiative of Nigeria is organising a competition in all Quran categories and inviting participants from the FCT and beyond, the competition is scheduled to hold from March 3 to 5, 2017. Winners of the highest categories of this competition will represent Nigeria in Turkey in May. In view of this, the foundation has extended its hand of kindness to the organisation to the tune of $1000, so as to help in the feeding, accommodation and transportation of participants, as well as purchase of gift items for participant.Also, as a major step towards alleviating the sufferings of poor people in remote areas and providing comfort for hundreds of indigent homes unable to afford clean water to meet their daily needs, the foundation, at the request of the Alyatama and Dawah Foundation, commissioned a borehole in some of these communities.The Alyatama and Dawah Foundation, a registered orphanage in Kabusa District, with has close to 300 orphans under its care, charged itself with the responsibility of educating these helpless children and providing their medical needs. When representatives of Alyatamah Foundation mentioned water scarcity as a major challenge in the community, the foundation made that challenge an issue of the past through provision of a borehole to serve the orphanage and the larger community free-of-charge. The borehole was commissioned on November 28, 2016.Another community which has benefited from the water provision programme is the JIBWIS Central Mosque, Kuje, where scarcity of water has also been a challenge for long. The foundation commissioned a borehole in that community on December 16, 2016, with officials of the mosque and members of the larger community expressing appreciation and joy for the life-changing facility. The cost of drilling both boreholes, raising of tanks, provision of power generators and workmanship cost $4,371.The project has also been extended to a portion of Gwagwa Community, a suburb of the FCT, where scarcity of clean water has remained a concern. On October 8, 2016, the foundation commissioned a borehole which cost $2,300.As part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Turkey and Nigeria, the foundation has embarked on an education scholarship programme aimed at providing access to education in Turkey to interested Nigerians. The first batch of winners of the Diyanet scholarship were 10 candidates, two of whom won PhD scholarships and the rest won scholarships to various other educational levels. All have embarked on their various programmes of study in 2016. The Counselor for Religious Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Abuja, in collaboration with the Counselor for Commercial Affairs have taken up the responsibility of supporting a Nursery/Primary school located in Mpape through payment of monthly salary of the staff of that school. The financial support started in 2015 and has contributed to the progress of the school by reducing the financial burden on the management of the school.As contribution towards alleviating the pains of people living in IDPs camps and people residing in remote villages where mosquitos render a lot of people vulnerable,the foundation donated 2,500 mosquito nets to IDPs camps in Borno and 500 mosquito nets to communities in Abuja, with the cost of purchase, transportation and distribution pegged at $24,840.In December 2016, the foundation, through the Office of Religious Affairs, Embassy of Republic of Turkey, donated the sum of $650 for the renovation a mosque in Gudu, a suburb of the FCT. The gesture was immensely appreciated by the community, considering that the mosque was dilapidated and in need of urgent repair. Total expenses of the programmes of the foundation, so far, cost $146, 978, 30 and, according to representatives of the foundation, are willing to do more in the coming Ramadan months and in all other aspects in which it intervened last year, ready to create a legacy for itself on the continent and lend a helping hand of fellowship and welfare to Nigerians.Num quam conficimus perfectas, sed semper melius (never perfect, but always better)
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