The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) has flagged off screening exercise of the Federal Capital Territory for intending pilgrims for the 2021 general and 2022 Easter pilgrimage to Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan at the FCT Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board in Abuja on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission, Rev Yakubu Pam disclosed that this is the first screening exercise for the 2021 general and 2022 Easter pilgrimage.
“FCT is the first set of intending pilgrims to be screened and you will also be the first to experience Israel and Jordan in the history of pilgrimage in Nigeria.
The NCPC boss explained that the Commission would do everything possible to ensure that the 2021 general and 2022 Easter pilgrimages would be spiritually impactful and transforming.
According to him, “The Commission has designed this year’s pilgrimage to be spiritually impactful and transforming so that pilgrims will come back and positively impact the lives of others around them.”
He advised the intending pilgrims not to abscond under the disguise of pilgrimage and further advised them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria. In his words, “Do not hide under the cover of pilgrimage to abscond, Nigeria is a country with a lot of opportunities.”
Rev. Pam intimated that the Commission had put on the ground lots of mechanisms to checkmate and make abscondment impossible, stating that the Commission recorded zero abscondment during the 2020 pilgrimage exercise to the Kingdom of Jordan.
According to him, “The zero abscondment recorded in the 2020 pilgrimage exercise has boosted the image of NCPC and Nigeria as a whole.”
In his address, the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola, who was represented by FCT Director of Administration, Mr Samuel Udoh stated that pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise that requires concentration.
“As you embark on this journey you will discover that Christianity is not fiction but all that you have read in the Bible will become a reality to you.”
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He urged the intending pilgrims to be good religious ambassadors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as the Federal Capital Territory. According to him, “God who has chosen you by his divine providence will guard and give you safety as you embark on this journey.”
In his remarks, the Director of FCT Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr Audu Dabara thanked the Executive Secretary and his Management for gracing the occasion of the screening exercise despite his tight schedule.
Dabara informed that FCT has recorded zero mortality and zero morbidity in the history of their pilgrimage, adding that the screening of intending pilgrims is to ensure that those who have serious health issues, potential absconders and bad characters would be screened out.
He informed that FCT is the first state to be screened, stating that “the intending pilgrims from FCT cuts across different states across the country” In his words, “because we are in the Federal Capital Territory we have intending pilgrims from almost all the states in Nigeria and that is the uniqueness of our operation.”
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