Muhamad Yehia
At the back of a restaurant in Lagos a lamb is being butchered for iftar – the meal eaten by practising Muslims during Ramadan to break their fast at sunrise. During the holy month of Ramadan the faithful observe the requirement to fast between sunrise and sunset.
But increasingly hard economic conditions here in Nigeria’s largest city, means many families don’t even have a simple meal to break their fast. They’re reliant on the kindness of people like Naheemah Ishola, a restaurant owner who makes it her business to feed the hungry during Ramadan. Her contribution is especially important this year with food prices soaring. She says the cost of essentials has skyrocketed. By the end of 2024, a 50-kilogram bag of rice reached a staggering 75,000 naira ($48.50) in Lagos and an even higher 99,000 naira ($58.20) in Abuja, making everyday meals a luxury for many. With inflation stretching household budgets to their limits, more people are going hungry.
Ishola, has taken it upon herself to cook and share meals with those who might otherwise have nothing to eat. For her, and many others who are helping in different ways, Ramadan isn’t just about fasting—it’s about feeding those in need. “The motivation for me is I know that most people cannot afford a decent meal on a normal day and as a Muslim, during the holy month of Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars of Islam says we should give back to the society. So I’ve taken it upon myself since 2017 as my duty to feed the vulnerable people in major bus parks, mosques and the roadside,” says Ishola
She explains that she is supported by friends and family who also want to contribute. “At the beginning of every year, as part of my savings plan, I set aside some funds for majorly Ramadan outreach for the less privileged, and I also get some support from a few family and friends, like say 20% of everything I do comes from family and friends, and the profits from my business for the month of Ramadan goes into it as well,” she says. According to Ishola the people’s happiness is the reward. “There are some days during the holy months of Ramadan as humans, you know I wake up tired, and I don’t feel the need to do this. But when I remember the smiles it’s going to put on people’s faces to hand them the food, it motivates me to get up and do it and this has kept me going since 2017.”
But Ishola is not completely shielded from the financial difficulties she sees around her. “Every time I hand over the meal packs to the vulnerable people on the street there’s this form of fulfilment I feel inside me. And at the same time, in recent times, I feel like I might not be able to do as much with the rising cost of living but if this rising cost of living is normalized, then I’ll be able to do more,” she says. Hunger led to stampedes during charity food handouts just before Christmas. It resulted in many deaths and injuries, including 35 children who died in two incidents alone. Muhammed Baba, a father of three, struggles with leprosy as well as poverty. His gratitude to Ishola is not just for feeding his family, but also for the dignity she affords him. “This month is the month of Ramadan, and everybody want to come and share food to those who need it and we are very, very happy for that and you know as we live in this community, we don’t want to go out to, to be begging up and down,” says Baba.