SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, (THEWILL) – The immediate past governor of Niger state, Dr. Babangida Aliyu on Wednesday averred that begging is not an Islamic tenet, stressing that Islam frowns at begging and dependence on other people.
He made this assertion while delivering a paper entitled: “Promoting Self Reliance through Sustainable Trade, Commerce and Agriculture for Human Development” at JIBWIS annual convention in Abuja.
While urging Muslims to be self reliant, Aliyu said, “We may appreciate how Islam vehemently frowns at begging and dependence on other people. Begging is so antithetical to Islam that even ‘Mallams’ are enjoined to have a trade, to be involved in commerce or agriculture so that they may feed themselves and not rely on exploiting the ignorance of other Muslims”.
He said for any country to effectively promote self-reliance through sustainable trade, commerce and agriculture for its development it must have data research and development.
The former governor pointed out that Nigeria needs to know its deficit and comparative advantages in order to plan, curb corruption and minimize wastages.
He stressed that the country’s failure in developing agriculture properly was not just as a result of discovering crude oil or lack initiative, policies and programs.
Aliyu however noted that there were many policies and programmes like the provision of extension service, farm settlement schemes and import substitution policy among others.
