Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board inspected the kitchen facilities used by the board’s contracted food vendors providing food for its pilgrims in Makkah on Saturday.
According to the board’s director, Abubakar Adamu Evuti, the inspection was to ensure strict adherence to the contractual agreement signed with the vendors and to strengthen the monitoring and supervision of the services to protect the interests of the FCT pilgrims for this year’s Hajj.
Interacting with the management of the vendor company, Evuti expressed satisfaction with the quality of services provided by the vendors and urged them to maintain this quality to provide better meals for the FCT pilgrims during their stay in Saudi Arabia in line with the contractual agreement.
“Alhamdulillah, we came to see your kitchen where the food for the FCT pilgrims is being prepared and packaged by ourselves.
“Our intention in coming here is to see things for ourselves. The food given to our pilgrims in terms of quality and quantity is satisfactory and in line with what was agreed upon with the cooks.
“We also want to ensure that the menu we provided is strictly adhered to because these are Nigerians in a different country who want to eat familiar foods. We provided the menu, and that menu has been strictly adhered to,” the director said.
He emphasized the commitment of the FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board to continue ensuring proper practices to provide good and acceptable meals for its pilgrims in accordance with the agreed standards.
Evuti, however, seized the opportunity of the visit to report observations raised by the pilgrims regarding the taste of the food they are being served.
According to him, “from the onset, we had some little challenges. These challenges were not due to the unavailability of items, but rather how to package them.
“But our staff are also involved in packaging these foods for the pilgrims. We have a team that comes here daily from the office of the board to assist caterers in packaging and preparing these foods.”
While assuring FCT pilgrims that the quantity and quality of the food they will be served will be of a high standard, Evuti urged them to notify the board of any observations to address them with the caterers to ensure improvement.
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Expressing delight with the preparation and packaging of the pilgrims’ food and the hygienic nature of the kitchen, the director noted contradictions between what they saw on the ground and earlier insinuations about the services provided for the FCT pilgrims.
Speaking earlier, the Head of Pilgrims Welfare Services Division of the board, Hajiya Hadiza Mohammed, who is in charge of feeding services in Makkah, expressed the board’s commitment to adhering strictly to the specifications in the menu provided to the caterers.
“We normally come to this kitchen regularly, especially on the days they cook our local foods. We make sure to report here as early as possible to guide them.
“Sometimes we even partake in the preparation and packaging of the food to ensure quality, especially on the days earmarked for Tuwo Shinkafa or Semovita, which is new to the caterers,” she said.
She informed that among the menu items, FCT pilgrims were being served Nigerian meals, including tuwo shinkafa, semovita with taushe soup, jollof rice, fried rice, rice and beans, among others, with meat, fish, and fruits.
While welcoming the delegation, the Chief Caterer, Mr. Mustapha Musa, commended the director and his entourage for their efforts in intensifying supervision to ensure quality service is delivered.
A total of 2,958 FCT pilgrims are participating in this year’s Hajj in the holy city of Makkah.
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