AN Indonesian Islamic scholar and a philantropist, Dr. Umi Waheedah Bint Abdul Rahman, has called for the adoption of a sustainable, Waqf-driven model of education and community development in Nigeria, drawing on her experience of building a network of Islamic boarding schools that combines free education with entrepreneurship, vocational training and productive investments.
A statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Lamara Garba said 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
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She explained how Islamic charitable endowments, known as Waqf, could be transformed into productive economic assets capable of 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, with the aim of providing vulnerable children with access to education and essential social services.
The schools provide free education, food, accommodation and healthcare, demonstrating how a properly managed charitable institution can address multiple dimensions of poverty while protecting the dignity and future of disadvantaged children.
According to her, the initiative had expanded to serve approximately 23,000 students by 2010, ranging from early childhood to university level. Following her husband’s death that year, the programme was streamlined to accommodate about 15,000 students.
She recalled that taking over the institution after her husband’s death presented enormous financial challenges, including substantial debts and unpaid staff salaries. Faced with the responsibility of sustaining the schools and meeting outstanding obligations, she sold her personal jewellery and vehicles while preserving the Waqf assets that supported the institution.
The experience, she explained, reinforced the importance of protecting endowed assets while 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 understood merely as an avenue for charitable donations but as a sustainable economic system capable of generating the resources needed to finance social services over the long term.
She explained that by combining Islamic charitable endowments with social entrepreneurship, sound business management and vocational education, the organisation had developed a model in which economic activities support educational services, while students acquire skills that prepare them for productive lives.
The model integrates agriculture, food production, energy, water management and waste recycling to reduce operational 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 enterprise 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.
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, she David these activities expose students to the practical realities of production, marketing, business management and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Waheedah explained 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.
The guest Speaker, 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.
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Her experience, she suggested, offers valuable lessons for Nigeria, particularly Northern Nigeria, where strengthening Almajiri education remains an important development priority.
She encouraged Nigerian communities to develop 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 objectives.
Rather than waiting exclusively for government intervention, she advocated that communities could take practical steps towards addressing educational and economic challenges through collective action, responsible management and productive investment.
She advocated that, Waqf, when supported by productive investments, vocational education and effective management, could evolve from a traditional charitable practice into a sustainable instrument of social transformation.
For Nigeria, particularly the North, the experience shared by Dr. Waheedah offers a practical framework for rethinking Almajiri education: preserving its Islamic foundation while introducing economic opportunities that enable schools to sustain themselves and prepare children for productive, dignified lives.
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 in support of Almajiri schools, through collaboration among financial institutions, universities and Islamic organisations.
Under the proposed arrangement, financial institutions could provide funding, universities could contribute research and technical expertise, while Islamic organisations could coordinate implementation within their communities.
Ealier in his welcome remarks the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Haruna Musa, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Professor Ahmad Muhammad Tsauni, said the model presented offered significant opportunities for addressing poverty, educational disadvantage, unemployment and other social challenges.
He noted that Nigeria continued to grapple with problems including 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.
The Vice Chancellor said BUK will collaborate with Dr. Waheedah by providing postgraduate fellowships to study 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, allowing them to benefit from her experience.
Also speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Dr. Sirajo Salisu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Bank Limited, announced a commitment to support outstanding graduates and provide professional guidance to students.
Dr. Salisu said the bank planned 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 further 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 Dr. Waheedah’s presentation for Almajiri education, Professor Binta Tijjani Jibril advocated an integrated system that combines Qur’anic instruction with vocational training, entrepreneurship and professional education.
Professor Binta Jibril a former Director of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIIBF) 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.
Professor Jibril also identified digital and financial technologies as opportunities for mobilising resources, strengthening accountability and extending the model to communities with limited resources.
Similarly, another discussant, the Director General Economic & Social Reforms Coordination, 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 offered examples of charitable endowmentts being used to meet public needs, urging individuals, families and communities to organise their charitable contributions around specific development priorities.
