Hajj Seats - Civil Society Urges States to Stop Sponsoring Pilgrims

To cushion the effect of the challenge posed by the 20 per cent cut of Hajj seats allocation to Nigeria by Saudi Arabian authorities, Independent Hajj Reporters, a civil society organization, yesterday urged state governments across the country to suspend their policy of sponsoring pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year.

A statement signed by its national coordinator Ibrahim Muhammad and publicity secretary Abubakar Mahmoud said this policy will complement the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria's (NAHCON) directive of banning old timers from this year's exercise.

The statement said "the 20% reduction of Hajj seats allocation to Nigeria, no doubt, poses a serious operational challenge to Hajj administrators in the country. To address this challenge, NAHCON has directed that old timers be barred from this year's hajj to bridge the gap. It's against this background that we also advise NAHCON to direct State Muslim Pilgrims' Welfare Boards (SMPWBs) to ensure that they give priority to pilgrims who paid with their money as against government-sponsored pilgrims, with hajj officials who will be responsible for the welfare of pilgrims as the only exemption."

However, the Independent Hajj Reporters urges Saudi authorities to always put the logistic challenges of other countries into consideration before formulating hajj policies.

It further challenges NAHCON to outline comprehensive publicity campaigns to educate pilgrims on the reason for the shortfall. "NAHCON should as a matter of urgency create a proactive information dissemination strategy to update Nigerians on any hajj related issue."

Nigerians, especially the pilgrims, were unaware of the 20 per cent reduction of Hajj seats allocated to Nigeria until the news was broke out by a national daily on June 12, 2013. There should be a proactive and up-to-the-minute information dissemination channels by relevant Hajj authorities for the consumption of pilgrims and the general public.

"In the absence of official communication on the part of hajj information managers and hajj information users (pilgrims), pilgrims may resort to rumuor mills to source for information which may jeopardize the efforts of NAHCON towards a hitch-free hajj exercise," the civil society said.
By Ibrahim Bunmi