An Indonesian Islamic scholar and philanthropist, Dr. Umi Waheedah Bint Abdul Rahman, has advocated a sustainable, Waqf-driven model to transform Almajiri education, tackle poverty and promote economic empowerment in Nigeria, particularly in the northern region.
In a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Lamara Garba, Dr. Waheedah made the call on Friday, October 16, 2026, while delivering a public lecture titled “Sustainable Community Empowerment through Waqf: Experiences, Lessons, and Prospects” at the CBN Centre of Excellence, Bayero University, Kano.
Read also: Kaduna Pushes for Girls’ Education, Protection
She explained that Waqf, an Islamic charitable endowment, could serve as a sustainable economic system for financing education, creating employment, reducing poverty and equipping vulnerable children with practical skills for independent living.
Sharing her experience of establishing free Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia with her late husband in 1998, Dr. Waheedah said the initiative was conceived during a period of economic and social hardship to provide vulnerable children with education and essential social services.
She said the schools provide free education, food, accommodation and healthcare, demonstrating how well-managed charitable institutions can address multiple dimensions of poverty while safeguarding the dignity and future of disadvantaged children.
According to her, the initiative had expanded to accommodate approximately 23,000 students by 2010, from early childhood to university level. Following her husband’s death that year, the programme was streamlined to serve about 15,000 students.
Dr. Waheedah recalled that taking over the institution after her husband’s death presented enormous financial challenges, including substantial debts and unpaid staff salaries. To sustain the schools and meet outstanding obligations, she sold her personal jewellery and vehicles while preserving the Waqf assets supporting the institution.
She said the experience reinforced the importance of protecting endowed assets and managing them productively to generate sustainable income.
The institution’s assets include rice fields, rice-processing factories, coffee farms, timber plantations, a bread factory and other agricultural and commercial enterprises. She disclosed that the organisation, which initially operated 25 business units, eventually expanded to 73.
Dr. Waheedah stressed that Waqf should not be regarded merely as a channel for charitable donations but as an economic system capable of generating the resources required to finance social services over the long term.
She explained that combining Islamic charitable endowments with social entrepreneurship, sound business management and vocational education had enabled the organisation to develop a model in which business activities finance educational services while students acquire practical skills.
The model integrates agriculture, food production, energy, water management and waste recycling to reduce operating costs, generate additional income and create practical learning opportunities.
Its enterprises include rice processing, noodle production, soya milk manufacturing, farming, fisheries, livestock and poultry production. The organisation also operates a poultry farm with 10,000 laying chickens and produces animal feed to support its agricultural activities.
In an innovative approach to waste management, food waste is converted into larvae for feeding poultry and fish, while discarded plastics, eggshells, sweet wrappers and other materials are recycled into yarn, crafts, ornaments and paving blocks.
The initiative’s philosophy is captured in its motto: “There’s no trash, but cash.”
According to Dr. Waheedah, the approach demonstrates how materials often discarded as waste can become valuable resources, creating economic opportunities while promoting environmental sustainability.
She said students participate directly in producing items such as caps, soap, socks and other goods for use within the institution and for sale to external customers. Some products, including traditional caps known as *kofia*, have reached international markets, including Senegal.
Beyond generating revenue, the activities expose students to production, marketing, business management and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Waheedah added that the institution provides vocational training in agriculture, fisheries, sewing, beauty-product production and other trades, enabling students to develop practical competencies alongside their formal and religious education.
Read also: Halt Registration Fees Before Businesses Suffer-Phone Traders to FG
She emphasised that the ultimate objective was to prepare young people to become job creators rather than depend entirely on paid employment, charitable donations or government assistance.
Drawing lessons for Nigeria, particularly Northern Nigeria, she said the model could help address the challenges associated with Almajiri education by combining religious instruction with vocational skills and sustainable economic activities.
She encouraged Nigerian communities to establish similar initiatives based on their available resources and local needs, stressing that sustainable solutions could emerge when communities organised their assets, skills and resources around clearly defined development objectives.
Rather than relying exclusively on government intervention, she urged communities to take practical steps towards addressing educational and economic challenges through collective action, responsible management and productive investment.
Dr. Waheedah also disclosed that the organisation receives support from the Central Bank of Indonesia to establish businesses within Islamic boarding schools across the country, particularly in drinking-water production, waste recycling and biogas generation from cow waste.
She expressed interest in promoting similar partnerships in Nigeria, especially to support Almajiri schools, through collaboration among financial institutions, universities and Islamic organisations.
Under the proposed arrangement, she explained, financial institutions could provide funding, universities could contribute research and technical expertise, while Islamic organisations could coordinate implementation within their communities.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Professor Haruna Musa, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Professor Ahmad Muhammad Tsauni, said the model presented significant opportunities for addressing poverty, educational disadvantage, unemployment and other social challenges.
He noted that Nigeria continued to grapple with out-of-school children, youth unemployment, orphanhood and the displacement of vulnerable populations, stressing that Waqf could provide sustainable responses when managed with transparency, accountability and a clear development strategy.
Professor Musa said the university would collaborate with Dr. Waheedah by providing postgraduate fellowships for research into her development model and exploring institutional partnerships to facilitate research, knowledge exchange and practical application.
He also disclosed that the university had concluded plans to offer the guest lecturer a pro bono appointment to engage with students virtually and share her experience.
The chairman of the occasion, Dr. Sirajo Salisu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Bank Limited, announced plans to support outstanding graduates and provide professional guidance to students.
Dr. Salisu said the bank intended to offer automatic employment over the next five years to the best graduating male and female students in Islamic Banking and Finance or Economics, subject to the university’s decision on the selection arrangement.
He also offered to engage voluntarily with undergraduate and postgraduate students every two weeks to share professional experience and prepare them for future career opportunities.
Discussing the implications of the presentation for Almajiri education, a former Director of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, Professor Binta Tijjani Jibril, advocated an integrated system combining Qur’anic instruction with vocational training, entrepreneurship and professional education.
Professor Jibril said school-based enterprises could generate income, reduce operating costs and equip learners with practical skills, while stronger governance and community participation would improve the sustainability of Almajiri institutions.
She also identified digital and financial technologies as opportunities for mobilising resources, strengthening accountability and extending the model to communities with limited resources.
Read also: Kano Moves to Protect Consumers from Unsafe Sachet Water
Similarly, the Director-General of Economic and Social Reforms Coordination in Gombe State, Dr. Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido, called for practical action to translate the principles of Waqf into sustainable solutions for education, healthcare, employment generation and community development.
He noted that Islamic history provided examples of charitable endowments being used to meet public needs, urging individuals, families and communities to organise their charitable contributions around specific development priorities.