NAHCON: Serving the interest of Nigerian Muslims

OVER the last decade, the cost of hajj has been on the spiral swing which many attributed to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria ((NAHCON). In fact, at a point, some began to query the morality of the leadership of the commission to administer hajj when, according to them, the commission wasn’t serving the interest of Nigerian Muslims based on what they erroneously perceived as its inability to arrest the spiraling cost of hajj in the country.

While it is usually the commission that bears the brunt or backlash of fare increment, not obvious to many is the fact that there are various other elements behind the scene which shape or determine what the cost of hajj would be as has been said time and time again at many fora, principally, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj, which fixes the cost of transportation in the holy land through the Car Syndicate and the United Agent. There are also the airlines who fix the cost of freight or air ticket; the accommodation providers and caterers in Saudi Arabia; aviation agencies in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as the state pilgrims welfare boards, agencies or commissions, while NAHCON only coordinates.

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After months of savage criticism of the commission in the media, especially the new media platforms, where so many commentators, including those with little or no idea about hajj – but because it was the trending subject – latched on it to show their presence and opinion on how the hajj fare should be, in order to vent personal anger against the management of the commission.

Now, for the first time in recent memory, the commission, last week, announced a downward  review of the 2019 hajj  fare by over N50,000 (fifty thousand Naira). This may look insignificant when filtered against the total cost earlier announced in the year but facts have shown that as little as N20,000 (twenty thousand Naira), yes, had prevented many intending pilgrims from realising their dream of embarking on the spiritual journey in the past. In fact, a state executive secretary confided in me on how one intending pilgrim has been running from the pillar to post to raise the sum of N29,000, being the balance of his hajj fare. People may not have any idea of how far the reduction would go in affecting the number of pilgrims who would show interest in embarking on this year’s hajj.

This bold step of the commission is, therefore, heart-warming and a welcome development to the Muslim ummah who have been clamouring for the commission to find a way to reduce the hajj fare in order to enable more Nigerians to perform the holy pilgrimage.

Although it took an interesting chemistry between NAHCON and Saudi Ministry of Hajj to make this giant stride possible – the re-classification of the Nigerian routes and downward reversal of payment on the Saudi portal nonetheless – the commission deserves a big hug.

One commentator and a state chief executive summed it up this way: “The time we were looking forward to has eventually come. The time we need someone to lift the spirit of hajj managers, NAHCON, has come. NAHCON has risen to the occasion and cemented our legendary hopes.”

With the commission now showing how hard it can work to make extraordinary things that will touch the hearts of the Nigerian ummah, it deserves a shoutout from all stakeholders in the hajj industry to encourage it to do more.

Ubandawaki is a staff member of NAHCON.