Saudi organization plans three mosques in Nigeria

A Saudi Arabia-based international Islamic relief organization plans to construct three mosques and an unspecified number of boreholes in the Nigerian city of Kebbi.

Sheik Ahmed Usman, the director-general of the relief body's Kaduna regional office, made the announcement while presenting drugs and medical equipment to the Kebbi state government at a ceremony in Kaduna.

Nigerian News Agency (NAN) quoted Sheikh Usman as saying that the projects would be embarked upon immediately after the current fasting month of Ramadan.

According to him, the assistance being rendered by his organization was aimed at alleviating proverty in Nigeria through boosting agriculture, education and rural development, including improving water supply.

Receiving the gifts, Mohammed said that the health and education sectors of the state were in a pathetic shape, adding that about 70 percent of its population was illiterate.

The governor said that 60 percent of the population also had no access to health care centers because they were rural dwellers while 80 percent of the urban dwellers lacked these facilities due to scarcity of resources.