Son of popular woman celebrity, Hajia Bola Muinat Shagaya, Hon. Sheriff Sherriff Shagaya who is the Chairman, Salman Shagaya Foundation has described the insinuations in some quarters alleging that he established the Foundation in order to gain political advantages as false and untrue. Shagaya, in a statement made available to Global Excellence by the Press Secretary of the NGO, Mr. Ibraheem Abdullateef rubbished the rumours and averred that the passion and the zeal to give back to the society and ease things for the less-privileged rather propelled his various humanitarian gestures. Noting that he had been running the Foundation since 2015, Shagaya added that he has also carried out numerous humanitarian projects through the initiative, which include scholarship scheme for the indigent students, healthcare sponsorship, financial aids and the quarterly disbursement of N10,000 business grants to deserving petty traders. ‘What could have been the motive for peddling such falsehood when it was clear to all that I didn’t bid for any political office in the just concluded 2019 general elections? he asked. The philanthropist further added that he had always shown passion and the zeal to serve humanity even before establishing the Foundation in 2015, noting that the Foundation had never attached importance to the political affiliation of the beneficiaries of the numerous empowerment programmes cognizant that politics has no place in its operations. ‘I am, therefore, surprised that some of our people are having the wrong impression that philanthropy is politics-infused. It shouldn’t be so. There should be a clear-cut difference between the two. There should be no reason why we should reduce philanthropy to an extension of political struggle. There is no better act of patriotism than helping the less-privileged. When you reach out to them with love and care, you are helping the government too. I see philanthropy as my little contribution to bettering our society’ he stated. Shagaya, who was the PDP House of Representatives candidate in the 2015 National Assembly election also implored the beneficiaries of the various empowerment schemes of the Foundation to make judicious use of the funds made available to them, he equally enjoined all and sundry to promote peace, unity and progress of the country at all times.
