THE chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, has charged Saudi Arabia to ensure quick supply of information and arrangements for next year’s hajj in order to have a seamless exercise.
Hassan stated this while speaking at the closing ceremony for 1443 AH hajj season organised by Company of Mutawwifs (guides) for pilgrims from non-Arab countries held in Makkah on Tuesday.
Present at the event were the leaders and representatives of hajj missions in African non-Arab countries.
The NAHCON chairman, who spoke on behalf of all hajj missions in Africa, stated that quick release of information would have immense impact on hajj preparations and arrangements for African pilgrims of non-Arab countries.
He said: “Providing us with essential information will enable us to effectively put in place all required arrangements in good time and with relative ease. It is obvious how lack of timely essential information resulted in the delay and/or rather hasty and, in some instances, difficulties experienced this year by some of our member-countries.
“Many times, we only get to read about vital information relating to our duties on social media and other unofficial news channels. As those saddled with the responsibility of organising hajj for our pilgrims, we appeal to you to make relevant information available to us firsthand and with the urgency it merits as well.”
He stated that the Memorandum of Understanding signing, which signifies the commencement of preparatory activities for hajj, did not take place physically this year and appealed that this be not allowed to continue.
Hassan urged the Mutawwifs to bring the issue before the council in order to accord it the seriousness it deserves.
He expressed appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the Crown Prince, Muhammad Bin Salman, for their dedication in serving the guests of Allah well despite the complexities involved.
He said: “On behalf of the entire African pilgrims’ affairs offices of non-Arab countries, I wish to congratulate all of us on the resounding success achieved in this year’s Hajj 1443AH. I pray that Allah (SWT) accepts our pilgrimage as an act of Ibadah. May He forgive our sins and bless the sacrifices we collectively made towards success of this year’s hajj. In the end, may He return us all safely to our respective countries.”
He also thanked the management council of the company for the upgrade of facilities at Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah.
Earlier, the chairman of the board, Ahmed Sindi, gave the assurance that all arrangements put in place were not for commercial gains, saying that the next hajj would be a departure from the present situation.
“You have seen that this hajj was an improvement over the last and we hope to make it better. We can’t do it alone, we have to interact with you and seek your cooperation,” Sindi said.
He also stated that the Ministry of Hajj had restructured most vital areas of hajj services with a view to improving on them.
“Our aim is to make the pilgrims happy. We will gather youths with good ideas and initiatives to serve pilgrims. We will reward any one of them that makes one pilgrims happy,” Sindi said.
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