PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS PRESENTED ON THE OCASSION OF THE 3RD NATIONAL GENERAL MEETING OF AL- HAYAT RELIEF FOUNDATION HELD ON JUNE 17TH 2012 AT THE DIPO DINA STADIUM IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA BY SALAKO TAOFIKI AJANI.
OPENING: We give thanks to Almighty Allah once again for His mercies and kindness on us for another past three years. A lot of rains had fallen and a lot of water had passed through the bridges. Many have died, many have fallen sick, many have become crippled by the economic downtrend but He has kept us to this day by His mercies and kindness. May I draw our attention to the fact that our being here today is not by our making but by His grace. We pray that He shall continue to shower His blessings and grace over us and continue to guide us to His right path. I want to pledge again that our worships, our glorifications, our existence in this world and the hereafter shall be for Allah alone and it is from Him that we shall continue to seek for guidance and assistance.
MEETINGS: The branches of Al-Hayat held their meetings regularly throughout the period as it was monitored by the Monitoring Committee. As at now, the branches of Al-Hayat are 38 in number excluding two branches whose activities have been suspended. These branches spread across Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Kwara states of the federation. Reports from the Committee under the Chairmanship of Engineer Sikrullahi Adeeko confirmed that all the branches were doing fine and progressing. Members’ attendance and participation were impressive and encouraging. I implore members to keep this up and use this medium to give kudos to the committee for a job well done.
REGISTRATION OF THE SOCIETY: I cannot but mention again that Al – Hayat Relief Foundation is a registered organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja with the registration no CAC/IT/NO 18559.
OUTGOING ELECTED OFFICERS: Officers elected three years ago by the Shura Committee headed by Mr Oladunjoye A Y O and who are leaving office today are:
1. President Mr. T. A. Salako
2. Vice President Engr. S.K. Adeeko
3. Secretary Gen. Alhaj. R. I. Adepoju
4. Asst Sec. Gen. Mr. O. B. Bakare
5. Treasurer Alhaj. A. O. Azeez
6. Financial Sec. Mr. F. A. Balogun
7. Internal Auditor Mr. M. A. Sabitu
8. Chief Whip Mr. O.Y. O. Oladunjoye
9. Social/ Welfare Sec . Mr. A. Adeeko Abdul Lateef
10. Publicity Sec. Mr. Ettu Azeez
11. Missioner Mr. Kamaldeen Ademolu
12. Business Manager Mr. R.T. Lekuti
13. One Ex. Officio member Vacant.
Another Shura Committee which was inaugurated about three months to the end of this tenure headed by Alhaj Bakare Fasasi did another thorough job to build on the achievement of the past and came out with the following members who would run the affairs of our Foundation for another three years at the national level.
These people include:
- President Alhaj R. I. Adepoju 2. Vice President Engr. S.K. Adeeko 3. Secretary Gen. Mr. Adeko Abdul Lateef 4. Asst Sec. Gen. Alhaj. O. B. Bakare 5. Treasurer Alhaj. Balogun Abdul Fatai 6. Financial Sec. Mr. Dawodu Abdu Rasheed 7. Internal Auditor Mr. Salisu Jamiu 8. Chief Whip Alhaj Nurudeen A.G 9. Social/ Welfare Sec. Ademola Shafi 10. Publicity Sec. Mr. Akindele Taiwo Waheed 11. Missioner Mr. Kamaldeen Ademolu 12. Business Manager Mr. Bakre Fasasi 13. Ex- Officio member Alhaj Salako T. A.
COMMITTEES: Al-hayat operates through a committee system and it is worth highlighting the achievements of the committees in the past three years.
BUSINESS COMMITTEE: Al-Hayat relies solely on business since it does not take interests. The business activities of all the branches thrived well in the last three financial years and members who had at least a unit of share have been taking profits at the end of each financial year. Today’s celebration would not be different, members will take home profit. The highest of profits to be taken in some branches is # 1267.50 per unit share. This is a better improvement on the past AGM. It is worth mentioning again to state that these profits were generated from lawfully earned incomes. Items of trading which Al-Hayat ventured into included buying and selling of items like Colour Television, Video Tape, V.C.D players, Generators, Handsets and lines, motor cycles, set of chairs, pumping machines, G.P tanks, Stabilizers, Rechargeable lamps, fans, blenders, irons, kitchen items, tyres, Clippers, antenna, gas cooker, mattresses and pillows. Also the society bought lands and building materials for members, and they are paying back well. Some bought vehicles of different brands through the society and they are equally paying back.
Three years ago, my prayer was that Allah should make it possible for many of Al-Hayat members to become landlords. Today, I am happy to report that Allah has accepted that prayer, uncountable number of our members have become landlords through the support from Al-Hayat Relief Foundation. We further pray that those of us who are still tenants will soon become private owners of our houses. Permit me to use this medium to appeal to members who have bought one thing or another to pay back promptly. Do not let us call on you before you carry out your part of paying back when we have been kind to honour your request. This will not only make you a good Muslim but it will also make it easier for other intending buyers to have the opportunity of doing so. Don’t forget that we do not receive money from any quarter.
GROUP LIFE INSURANCE (TAKAFULU) COMMITTEE: The Society operates a Takaful Group life insurance scheme. This is centrally administered by the national executive council under the chairmanship of Alhaj Razaq Adepoju. The programme is set for a five –year plan which would terminate at the end of this financial year 2012 to 2013. I want to categorically report that all the indemnities paid so far have not affected our total contributions or premiums. These have been paid from the profits generated from the investment of Takaful funds. For instance, as at March 2012, total premiums paid by members was # 10,051,000. This was invested on different halal businesses and brought a profit of about # 1,308,200. Total indemnity paid so far to the family whose members had died was # 820,000. It is however shocking that the leadership of some branches did not pay their premiums into the national Takaful fund in the last financial year, these branches would be putting their members into serious risk and great disadvantage. For instance, there is no way by such branches can make full claims on their members in case of any eventualities. And even where this did not occur, such branches have put their members into some loses when the time ripes for sharing the proceeds of the takaful investment. All the leadership of our various branches should take remittance of takaful premiums into the national cover serious as from this moment.
ZAKAT AND SADAQAT COMMITTEE: Al-Hayat’s Zakat and Sadaqat Committee has been performing wonderfully well and members and non-members now feel the impact at all levels. May Allah give members of the committee strength to wax stronger and stronger. My appeal to members here is to pay our zakat to Al-Hayat’s purse and respond very well to our sadaqah sheme.
MONITORING COMMITTEE: The monitoring committee is headed by Engineer Sikirullahi Adeeko and has representatives from nearly all the branches, the committee did a thorough job and gave a comprehensive report on all the branches. The reports have been yearly and cumulative.
DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE: This committee is headed by Mr. Oladunjoye A. Y. O. The committee did wonderfully well in mapping out rules and regulations that would guide the smooth running of the society. This has been adopted by members as by-laws.
HAJJ AND UMRAH SERVICES COMMITTEE: This committee is headed by Alhaj Yasir Abdullah. The committee in the past three years had succeeded in generating more pilgrims who performed hajj under the umbrella of Al-Hayat Relief Foundation. In the 2011 Hajj operations for example, about 45 pilgrims performed hajj with Al-Hayat body. At this juncture, we call on Allah to grant Alhja Yasir aljanat firdaos and to grant the husband Alhaj Abdullah Yasir long live and the courage to bear the irreparable demise of his wife. The event took place when Alhaj Yasir led the pilgrims to Makkah and Madinah under the banner of Al-Hayat Relief Foundation to perform the 2011 hajj.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Education committee is headed by Alhaj Lukman Adesanya. The committee organized series of seminars and workshops within the period. This brought members of Al-Hayat from different and distant branches together to rub minds on the ways of sustaining the future of our foundation.
Al–HAYAT GOLDEN HERITAGE LIMITED: Al-Hayat has registered its businesses under the name Al- Hayat Golden Heritage Limited under the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990. Its registration no is RC 797275.
RENTAL BUSINESS: Al-Hayat has a rental business which is under the care of Ajoke Rentals and it has so far been well managed.
YAT WATER: Al-Hayat Pure Water Factory took off about three years ago. The factory had initial challenges but we thank Allah that we are overcoming the challenges gradually. Two main raw materials needed for a pure water factory are water and nylon which are consumable items. Thank God the issue of lack of water is gradually phasing out. The factory took off with one vehicle. When it was apparent that a vehicle could not satisfy the yearnings of our people, we took an interest free loan to buy another vehicle. This loan we are paying back gradually. We sometimes have disappointments with those who supply us nylon. To overcome this disappointment and boost our production capacity, we succeeded in buying a nylon production machine which had started given us good results. We use this medium to call on other pure water factories to patronize us in the purchase of their nylons for water production. With this achievement, we would be able to produce nylon for our use without delay and at the same time produce for others and make double gains.
I want to use this medium to thank My Vice President, Engineer Sikirullahi Adeko who held brief for me during my absence and who did not allow the factory to collapse. I also thank Brother Wasiu Ambali who assisted greatly during the great trying period in the factory. He is in charge of Yat Water account, he has prepared the account in so detail format that it would be easier for any layman to understand. Lastly here, I thank Brother Abdul-Akeem Olawunmi who met me on the internet and took up assignment at the Water factory without him knowing me or I knowing him. We got to know each other physically when I arrived from Malaysia.
FINANCE: Our foundation is 15 years old this year and we have about 38 branches across Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Osun and Kwara states of the federation.
The society’s consolidated account as at March 2012 was put at #333,845,228. This is a reflection of all the branches account for the financial year ended March 2012. The treasurer of the association shall give the details in his reports.
SELF DEVELOPMENT SCHEME: The society operates a self development scheme designed to assist members take care of some urgent needs and help less privileged members take off micro business. It ranges from #10,000 to #20,000. Beneficiaries are to pay back within 10 months the exact amount collected without interests. A total sum of #8,138,650 was given out as S.D.S for the year.
INTEREST FREE LOANS: One of the strongest aims of Al- Hayat is to give out interest free loan to members. In line with our constitution and with the spirit of Islam, our members enjoyed interest free loans of #243,434,390 in the past financial year. Putting S.D.S and normal loans together, it means our members enjoyed a total sum of #251,573,040 altogether on interest free basis. By this, Al-Hayat has attained a feat which no financial institution can compete with in the country. By this, I mean, Al-Hayat gave out a loan of #251,573,040 purely on interest free basis. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Al-Hayat Relief Foundation, your foundation and mine has no rival in this regards. The issue of loan is very important, some people associate taking loans to poverty or having financial problems. That is not so, in the developed worlds, governments make provisions for taking loans to pursue higher education, to buy vehicles, to build or buy houses, to take care of medical bills and even to set up businesses. And this is why an economist Benjamin Frankling says, “if you know the power of money go and borrow”, the area of our own disagreement is the issues of putting interest on the loans which we have overcome in Al-Hayat. We have to watch this too carefully to ensure that our people do not bastardize the golden opportunity of enjoying interest free loans for life.
BENEVOLENT LOAN: In the course of the year, we introduced a benevolent loan scheme for some members. These were members who were not paid salaries in their places of work for a period of time. To reduce their sufferings and to enable them keep body and soul together, Al-Hayat gave out #10,000 each to about 12 members for a period of about 5 months with the agreement that they would pay back the exact money collected when the situation improved. A sum of about #500, 000 was given out as benevolent loan and the beneficiaries have been paying back since there has been a better improvement at their places of work.
SHARES IN JAIZ INTERNATIONAL PLC: AL-Hayat wants to commend the efforts of Jaiz International Plc and give kudos to the Board of Directors for their efforts in making sure that Islamic Banking flourish in Nigeria. Three years ago, we were yearning for a branch of Jaiz in Ijebu-ode here to serve our members and other citizens of this community. But today, it is a different story because Jaiz took off and its operation could not go all round the states at the same time.
AL-HAYAT MICRO- FINANCE BANK: Following the decision of Jaiz not to be able to cover the whole federation immediately, Al- Hayat decided to take the bull by the horn to start with a micro-finance bank in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Guidelines and policies.
It is worthy of note to mention that prior to this period, the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies organized a one day colloquium at the University of Lagos on Prospects and Challenges of Islamic Banking in Nigeria in June 2011. Governor of the Central Bank was represented and other eminent personalities were present. Alhaj (Dr) Abdul Lateef Adegbite, the Secretary General Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs delivered the Key-note address on the occasion. Al- Hayat attended this colloquium and presented a paper titled: Islamic Banking: Challenges and Prospects –A Practical Implementation of Islamic Economic Theories of Al-Hayat Relief Foundation, Ijebu-ode, Nigeria. Copies of our paper were distributed and given to the Central Bank Governor’s representatives and others.
Following this, Al-Hayat put up a committee to prepare a proposal for its micro-finance bank.
The committee worked assiduously and has presented its report to the enlarged NEC meeting of Al-Hayat where all the 38 branches were represented. The NEC meeting embraced the proposal and further set up a technical committee to look into the report.
It is hoped that very soon the technical committee would wind up its assignment for the micro-finance bank to take of.
AL-HAYAT GOLDEN ESTATE: In an effort to further ensure that our members become house owners, we acquired about 23 acres of land at Ilefun Quarters along Ijebu-ode Ibadan express way. Our plan is to create a conducive environment which will be habitable for our members and their families. The perimeter survey of the land, lay-out and survey for all the plots have been done and about 30 members have been allocated plots on the site.
We pray that those who have been allocated plots will be able to complete their buildings within a short time and shall live in their houses for a long period before departing this world.
We also call on those who are planning to join to make haste as there are limited numbers of plots to be sold on the site. This is however our first phase, it is our prayer that after exhausting this area, second phase will take of in another environment. May Allah count us among the lucky ones to be resided on this our premier estate.
OUR BANKERS: Al-Hayat Relief Foundation operates accounts with Wema Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank and United Bank for Africa Plc all in Ijebu-ode and other banks where Al – Hayat exists. Like we did three years ago, we have again invited our bankers to be here today to know us better and to appreciate their support, assistance and understanding in tolerating our dealings with them. It is our prayer that we shall continue to enjoy their support in all regards.
OUR LEGAL ADVISER: We thank our Legal Adviser Bisi Abdul Azeez Chambers and co. for all his selfless services and support to our foundation. This chamber has been very wonderful in carrying out legal services to the foundation. The chamber was also instrumental to the acquisition of the Golden Estate Land. A chamber with a difference in this domain which has knowledge and experiences of Shariah and Common laws to its credit.
WITHDRAWALS: A couple of members were ejected from the society from different branches including those who were advised to voluntarily withdraw due to their perpetual absence from meetings and constant failure to fulfill their financial commitments.
CONCLUSION: I want to draw the attention of members to the fact that Al-Hayat Relief Foundation is a unique organization that is rare to come by. People within and outside the country still find it difficult to believe that any organization can give out #500,000 and even #1,000,000 loan to members purely on interest free basis without hidden charges. When I was writing my AGM report, I went through Google to find out countries which give interest free loans to their citizens. I did not find any, not even one listed except for those saying they were about thinking of doing it. As a result, I want to appeal to our members to give maximum support to this foundation and not to venture into any dealings that may tarnish the image of our organization or get involved in shady businesses which are not in line with the shariah. The other people, group, societies, politicians and individuals alike were destroyed the moment they began to rationalize. They thought they were wiser than Allah. We cannot be wiser than our Creator, so let us follow all the laid down rules and guidelines from Allah and we would not go astray. May Allah continue to guide us a right.
APPRECIATION: We thank Allah for His mercies upon us, we thank our legal advisers for their continued supports, and we also thank our patron in person of Alhaji Imam Ayanbadejo Eketa Adinni of Ijebu-Land for his spiritual and fatherly support. We thank all our fathers and mothers who have given us support by becoming members under the associate echelon. I thank all the members of the AGM committee and everyone who have contributed morally and financially to make this day a successful and memorable day. May the Almighty Allah make it possible for us as Muslims to earn our livelihood through halal means and may He make it difficult for us to acquire wealth through haram channels. Amin.
T.A. SALAKO.
(President April 2006 – March 2012).