Nigeria must align with Saudi’s Vision 2030 on Hajj, Umrah —NAHCON Chair

The Chairman/CEO of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Ambassador Ismail Abba Yusuf, has declared that Nigeria’s Hajj industry must be repositioned with a view to aligning it with the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so as to be able to negotiate from position of strength.

Yusuf made the declaration at the post-2026 Hajj summit held in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme “Repositioning Nigeria’s Hajj industry as a model of pilgrim service excellence”.

To achieve this, the NAHCON boss asserted that Nigeria must jettison analogue habits, late remittances and improvised planning or risk being priced and pushed to the margins, submitting that, “Nigeria, as one of the countries with the largest Hajj pilgrims’ population on earth, cannot afford to be a spectator to this transformation.”

According to the chairman, “The deeper purpose of this summit is not merely to review one season, but to reposition an industry. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is executing, under Vision 2030, the most ambitious transformation of pilgrimage administration in modern history.

“The Pilgrim Experience Program has digitised the entire Hajj value chain — visas, contracts, accommodation, transportation and scheduling — through the Nusuk and Masar platforms. The Kingdom is expanding capacity towards hosting millions more pilgrims and Umrah performers annually, and it is doing so on the strict currency of data, compliance and service quality.

“The implication for Nigeria is inescapable: we must align with this new architecture to be able to negotiate from position of strength — securing better quotas, earlier contracting windows, premium service tiers and priority scheduling.” 

He further disclosed that the new NAHCON leadership was focused on being a strategic partner in order to rebuild the country’s processes so that they speak the language of Vision 2030.

Ambassador Yusuf informed that, “This includes: Early preparation by imbibing the culture of early planning and enforcement of a predictable Hajj calendar; Developing a single National Pilgrimage Digital Platform for Hajj and Umrah registration, payment traceability and provision of all pilgrims services; Enforcing service standards and professional accountability at every level, from the Commission through the State Boards to the smallest tour operator.

“Strengthening financial transparency and cost governance; Navigate towards decentralised operations with strong central oversight. State Pilgrims Welfare Boards and licensed operators must take charge of pilgrims services while NAHCON retains regulatory responsibilities and oversight: “Comprehensive Umrah coordination and oversight by treating Umrah, henceforth, as a core statutory and consumer-protection responsibility; Professionalisation and capacity building through the Hajj Institute of Nigeria as the national training and certification hub for Hajj and Umrah and Enhance pilgrims’ education by adopting a standard national curriculum in major Nigerian languages covering Hajj and Umrah rites and logistics.”

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The chairman said NAHCON’s reform agenda would prioritise professional certification and training for Hajj managers and officials; data-driven pilgrim registration and allocation; strict compliance with Tafweej and Jamaraat scheduling as both a safety obligation and a religious duty of order; performance-based frameworks for monitoring officials and service providers alike; and year-round planning that begins for 2027, not next year, but this quarter.

He added that the Commission has already directed all state boards and tour operators to commence preparations for the 2027 Hajj.

The NAHCON boss informed the summit that successes were recorded during the 2026 Hajj, adding that despite these, there were certain things that needed to be fixed.

“We recorded an orderly airlift, improved visa processing through the Nusuk platform, better medical services and closer coordination between the Commission, the State Boards and our licensed tour operators. Our pilgrims performed their rites in safety, and they returned home in peace. Alhamdulillah,” he informed.

He, however, noted that certain failures were exposed during the last Hajj exercise, which he said had to be confronted frontally.

“The season also exposed failures that this Summit must confront frontally — The circumvention of medical screening checks by 109 pilgrims, lapses in catering services in the Masha’er, gaps in service-provider compliance, avoidable pressure points in accommodation and transportation, and weaknesses

in some of our own monitoring and enforcement instruments.”

While warning service providers, both foreign and domestic, that era of contractual failure carried no consequence is over, Yusuf said NAHCON had initiated post-2026 Hajj reconciliation with Saudi Arabian service providers with a view to invoking accountability clauses in signed agreements.

“Let every service provider, foreign or domestic, take heed. The era in which contractual failure carried no consequence is over. Pilgrims must receive relief for every poor service rendered. Performance will henceforth, determine patronage,” he said.

According to him, “The Nigerian pilgrim is not asking for luxury. He is asking for order. She is asking for dignity. They are asking that the sacrifice of a lifetime be met with the seriousness of a nation. That is a reasonable request, and under this reform agenda, it is a promise we intend to keep.”