How the Zakat commission in Sokoto came to the aid of a Christian lady from Ghana who had lost her memory and was living rough on the streets of the famous city
Her Ghanaian roots are not in doubt. She has family there and she speaks one or maybe several of the languages of that country, and her names do indicate a Ghanaian heritage. How she got to Sokoto in northern Nigeria is still a puzzle. She has no recollection of her movement or passage. At least four or five countries have to be traversed if one is doing a road trip from that country to Nigeria. Did she come by air or by sea? Both options seem unlikely.
The story begins in 2018 when Maryam Suleiman, who grew up in Sokoto and runs a business there, first noticed the lady who was subsequently given the nickname ‘Zakat Queen’, which will be used throughout this report rather than her actual names. She was ill and sleeping rough on the streets of Sokoto, and was clearly in need of assistance. Or, maybe the story begins earlier when family members of ‘Zakat Queen’ noticed that she had disappeared from her home somewhere near Kumasi in Ghana.
According to Suleiman “I noticed Zakat Queen in 2018, around September on the streets of Sokoto. I used to see her passing. Very soon somebody said they often saw a woman sleeping around my shop. I came to the shop late in the night. I saw her and realised that she was not well. I started giving her gifts and gradually she got used to me.”
In October of the same year, Suleiman noticed that Zakat Queen was quite ill. She now placed a call to Huraira Isa, Director, Finance & Supply, Zakat Commission Sokoto, explained the situation to her, and sought to know if the commission could render some assistance. The commission swung into action as it often does, got the lady admitted into hospital, and also paid her bills. Zakat is a tax imposed on wealthy Muslims and constitutes the third pillar in Islam. The Zakat commission collects and distributes Zakat among the poor, widows, orphans, the dispossessed and the needy in Sokoto state. Against this background the Zakat commission has developed a ten year blueprint to curb the menace of poverty in the state by the year 2030.
Very soon it was understood that Zakat Queen had been involved in an accident in Ghana. In consequence of this she lost her memory, a situation that subsisted until her final return to Ghana. According to Suleiman “She knew nothing again. She lost her memory completely. How she got to Sokoto she cannot explain. She did not even know where she was.” However Suleiman was able to realise that she has a Christian background.
She comments on the help extended to Zakat Queen by the commission “To my surprise, irrespective of tribe or religion, she was helped. When you get to Zakat your needs will be accomplished. They got to know she is a Christian in 2019 when she was found.”
Isa opens up on the role played by the Zakat commission in extending help to Zakat Queen “The commission sponsored the woman to be taken to hospital to undergo treatment, while the commission checked on her progress from time to time. Hajiya Maryam assisted in visiting her while she was at the hospital. After some time she started regaining her consciousness and could even speak some words. She informed me of the progress and it was found out that she was a Ghanaian. Hajiya Maryam took her to her house after she was discharged from the hospital for some days. Afterwards she reported to the commission about her intention to take her to Ghana.”
She draws attention to the Chairman’s response “He was so delighted by such kindness and offered to pay for their transportation from Sokoto to Abuja, Abuja to Accra, Accra to Kumasi and eventually to her village, all to be funded by the commission.”
Muhammad Lawal Maidoki, Executive Chairman, Zakat Commission, tells the story, “I returned a lady to Kumasi in Ghana. We helped her in Sokoto for one year in the hospital. At that time nobody knew who she is. We therefore called her Zakat Queen. When she became a little better, she mentioned her name and the names of some of her relations. I have some friends from Zakat in Kumasi. I called them and they went to where she mentioned. They were told that they have not seen her for two years. During the early part of the pandemic we brought them to Abuja and then onwards to Ghana. The lady is not a Muslim.”
On the work of the commission, Maryam posits “They can go beyond what they have done in this environment, if they are well funded. They don’t really care about your background. Even when they got to know she’s a Ghanaian, they made sure they reunited her with her family, which I know, ordinarily a lot of people will not even do. I heard of many people that the commission had assisted. I have a woman who received a grinding machine. She’s now ventured into the poultry business.”
The Zakat commission provided air tickets for Zakat Queen and Maryam Suleiman who escorted the former back to her country in 2020. The commission paid for the air tickets and also linked up with the Zakat group in Accra, Ghana who received the two when they arrived Accra.
She comments on her time in Ghana “I was in Ghana for one week. I left her seriously in need at that time. Even up till now she’s seriously in need. When we got to her community, I narrated my story to the King of her community. I wanted her to stay with me, but nothing’s better than home. A self-contained room will cost her eight hundred dollars. For now, she is not doing anything but she says that she is good at farming. If she gets a little assistance, she will be able to engage in farming.”
Suleiman draws attention to a matter of importance “I am supposed to go back to Ghana to provide her with drugs. Her current supply of drugs will expire in April/May this year. I bought drugs for her that will last one year when we were travelling to Ghana. If she regularly takes the drugs for the rest of her life, she will have no problem. I may have to buy the drugs and send by courier to the King of her community.”
Her words ‘Zakat has tried so much, but I don’t feel like going there to disturb them. Any assistance anyone wants to do for her is to give her shelter. With less than a million naira she will have a house of her own.” As a result of her kindness to Zakat Queen and the help she gave the latter, the king of Zakat Queen’s community gave her a title Nana ajua bedu abebio enkoshem, which translates as 10th Queen of development of Akotom Ashante region. She wears ceremonial beads which signify her position as Queen in the Kingdom.
She sheds light on the beautiful act of giving “You see this voluntary work comes from the mind. It’s not a small work for you to invest your time in situations like this. It’s not everybody that can do it.”
In a related development Maidoki at a recent event held at SOECOM, stated that over two billion naira was realised as Zakat in Sokoto state for the year 2021. This would be distributed along with state government Ramadan and Sallah assistance respectively.
Suleiman wonders aloud as the interview draws to a close “How many countries did she travel through to get to Sokoto? The countries between Ghana and Nigeria include Togo, Republic of Benin, Niger Republic. When we got to the hospital, she couldn’t talk and we didn’t know her name. I told them she’s my Queen, Queen Zakat.”
- This report was supported by the Zakat Commission, Sokoto
