Over 50,000 Nigerians to Perform 2024 Hajj – NAHCON
The Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Jalal Arabi, has said despite the initial hiccups and uncertainties that surrounded this year’s Hajj preparations, more than 50,000 Nigerians have been cleared to perform the annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
This figure is a far cry from the 95,000 pilgrims the country sent to the Holy Land last year.
Arabi however told journalists while breaking the Ramadan fast with them in Abuja on Friday that it is a significant milestone and a miracle that Nigerians can still be represented with a huge number despite the challenges caused by foreign exchange instability, reforms and the deadlines set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He added that Nigerians should celebrate the milestone at a time many countries have officially informed Arabian authorities of their inability to fill their quotas.
“Against all odds, we will perform Hajj this year in a big way. We will go with massive numbers. We will beat some powerful countries. Some of them have thrown in the towel and asked for their quotas to be reduced.
“We must always work hard to remit monies on time to meet up with all the logistics and the deadlines set by Saudi Arabia authorities.
“We are not indicting anyone or group but people must do the right things on time for us to always be on the same page with the Arabian authorities.
“It is easy to destroy. But it is very difficult to build. As a government, we are on a trajectory of success, it may be slow, but we are getting there,” he said.
Fielding questions from journalists on some of the challenges encountered in the 2023 Hajj, especially the issue of tents, and how to avert them this year, the NAHCON boss said: “From Islamic point of view, Mina is meant for only a total of 950,000 pilgrims at a time. But in recent years, it has never accommodated less than 2 million pilgrims. So, you can see that the problem is not peculiar to Nigeria. Some of the big countries too have encountered the problems and they have toyed with a couple of ideas on how they can acquire some parts of the lands for expansion etc.
“Mina was also infiltrated last year by some aliens. The checks and balances were poor.
“Well, this disappointment may be a blessing in disguise. We have a limited number now. We can accommodate better in Mina. We have limited number, we can control crowd better. We will be very meticulous and we will know who is cooking what for us. This is because last year, the quality and quantity of the food served at Mina were also affected.
“From here, as part of our crowd control measures, we will cluster people into groups from LGAs and appoint leaders and deputy leaders for them who will take responsibility for their movement etc. They will be together all through the Hajj exercise. The identification system will be electronic and digital and no one will be able to access the facilities without certain unique identities,” he said.
