A faith-based Civil Society Organization (CSO) in the Hajj and Umrah industry, Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR) today commended the leadership of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), airlines involved in flight operations for pilgrims, Saudi Arabia-based service providers and Nigerian pilgrims participating in this year’s Hajj for a successful handling of operations so far.
The CSO, in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammed, made available to Tribune Online today, stated that NAHCON had facilitated the airlift of over 21,075 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia with almost zero hitches.
IHR stated that information at its disposal showed that almost everyone involved in the airlift and reception operations were up and doing, hence the successes recorded so far.
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“We are particularly happy that almost all the pilgrims so far, apart from 547 from Kano, landed in Madinah. This is commendable.
“Special commendation also goes to all officials across the states who promptly mobilise their pilgrims to transit camps and the airlines for always arriving on time for departure.
“We lauded the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for the seamless process of processing visa – one of the critical challenges to pilgrims’ airlift in the past.
“We are also unaware of any pilgrims’ complaints regarding issuance of BTA, room allocation in Madina or feeding.
“The NAHCON advance team are doing what they were sent to do, and we can only commend them and urge them to do more,” the IHR stated.
It, however, called for sustenance of the commitment exhibited so far as Nigerian pilgrims move from Madinah to Makkah, noting that Makkah is where the major services will be put in scale of measurement.
According to the CSO, “We urge all involved to sustain the same degree of commitment as pilgrims transit Madina to Makkah.
“Average Nigerian pilgrims will spend 29 to 30 days in Makkah as compared to 4-5 days in Madina. That is where the major services will be put on the scale of measurement.”
It also called on private tour operators whose pilgrims will start travelling to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to take a que from the operations so far and also have a near seamless exercise.
“Finally, we urge that the real work will start on 8 of Dhul Hijja when pilgrims will move to Mashair for the Hajj days. Recurring problems revolve around feeding and bed spaces in Mina,” it stated.
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