Hajj Development Levy and welfare of Nigerian pilgrims

WHEN the idea of the Hajj Development Levy was mooted over a decade ago by the pioneer management of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) led by the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, at a stakeholders meeting held at the National Mosque, Abuja, it met with skepticism.

The levy is a creative platform to raise an alternative financing source outside the government in view of the dwindling funds from the Federal Government. In fact, there were arguments by participants at the meeting regarding its workability and implementation were it to be eventually adopted. The major argument was that the money could be misappropriated or diverted by those at the helm or borrowed by the Federal Government to finance other projects.

Most states soon became disgruntled and agitated about the utilisation of the fund. It first started in muffled tones and then the noise began to be heard even from the rooftops that the contributory fund might have gone down the drain as they had feared.

Not even assurances from the then chairman of the commission, Musa Bello and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who was superintendent over the commission as the Amirul Hajj that the fund was in the safe hands of Jaiz Bank and later the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could allay the fears of the antagonists of that idea.

The agitation became more profound after the emergence of the current management board led by Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar Mohammed in 2015. Apart from being confronted publicly by some of the chief executives of states’ pilgrims welfare boards, petitions were written to the presidency and the National Assembly accusing the commission of having spent or diverted the fund.

However, what is unknown to many of the agitators as regards the delay is the fact that there are several administrative procedures put in place by both the government and the commission to safeguard the fund against possible mismanagement.

There are many hurdles against the implementation of the hajj levy projects, being a fund outside the scope of government source. The original idea was that the fund would be disbursed through a tripartite arrangement involving the state pilgrims welfare boards (being the source of the fund), NAHCON (which is legally empowered to administer the fund) and the Federal Government, which oversees and keeps the fund in its custody through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Therefore, except by the approval of the three, no part of the fund can be disbursed or spent without all of them agreeing to it. Therefore by the arrangement, the state boards are expected to conceive projects of their choice and forward same to the commission for approval after which machinery would be set in motion for the execution of such projects.

 

The BPP angle

It should be noted that one of the several ways adopted by the Federal Government to stem the tide of corruption was the institution of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). By the Bureau of Public Procurement Act, it is mandatory for any agency of government to seek the approval of the BPP before funds are released for the execution of any project. As with many government procedures, there were many factors militating against the quick execution of projects as expected by the people. These include extortion, administrative snail-speed, pre-qualification and time lag between submission and approval of tenders. Perhaps with the institution of the ease of doing business in Nigeria by the Federal Government recently, the processes may not take quite as long in the future as it does now.

 

Project execution

Several years after the protracted administrative humpiness, the Hajj Development Levy scheme projects got off to a flying start and got the momentum it deserved in 2018 and 2019 with the award of contracts worth over N2 billion across the six geopolitical zones. The projects involve the construction, rehabilitation and re-modeling of infrastructural facilities at the hajj reception centres. The facilities include mosques, clinics, hotel-like accommodation, shopping mall and fencing in Ilorin, Sokoto, Yola, Kano, Maiduguri, Lagos, Gombe, Bauchi, Kaduna, etc.

Indeed, there are lots of good stories to tell now that many of the projects embarked on by the commission have started to take roots and, even in some places, bear fruits. For instance, the 800-meter perimeter fencing of the hajj reception centre in Ilorin has been completed and ready for commissioning.

Some of the other projects which have reached advanced stage of completion include the multipurpose hall and hotel-like accommodation in Yola, construction of events hall and clinics in Abuja, construction of events centre and landscaping in Lagos, construction and renovation of toilets in Maiduguri and construction of hotel-like accommodation in Kano and Sokoto.

All of these show that with greater cooperation among the stakeholders – state pilgrims welfare boards, private tour operators and NAHCON – this is just the beginning of the advancement of the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims.

Ubandawaki is of the Information and Publication Division of NAHCON.