National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON has taken steps to address some of the complaints of pilgrims in the ongoing Hajj exercise in Saudi- Arabia.
.The NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan stated this in the holy land while addressing the pilgrims at their different States’ camps.
He said a petition had been forwarded to Saudi- Arabia authorities for a refund of money over the poor and strange meals served to the pilgrims stressing that the commission was not responsible for the provision of food in Muna.
” Nigerians are Nigerians everywhere they are. It doesn’t matter the sophistication of the environment, they always preferred their local foods. But, we are not in control in Muna this year, it’s strictly the responsibilities of the host and the authorities have passed the information to Saudi that what our people want is Nigerian food and nothing more”.
Alhaji Hassan attributed the delayed flights and how efforts to bring other Nigerians to the holy were unsuccessful to the emergency nature of this year’s Hajj as the Commission had only 3 months to prepare.
‘In the case of those who didn’t come, we tried all we could. We actually had an understanding of a rescue but immediately the gate was formally closed by Saudi authorities, the flight’s operators said there was nothing they could do. We will definitely give them top priority next year Inshallah”
” You should remember that I said it during the pre-Hajj preparations that this year’s exercise is emergency Hajj, therefore, the pilgrims should bear with us as we are working hard to address noticeable lapses.”
What dominated the pilgrims’ complaints at all the camps visited was poor feeding services and the absence of local meals at their tents in Muna
The Ambassador of Nigeria to the Kingdom of Saudi- Arabia, Yahya Lawal who was part of the delegation of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that also visited the pilgrims said he was optimistic that all the complaints against the Saudi authorities regarding the Hajj operation would be positively addressed.
” Certainly these complaints are going to be taken up at the highest possible levels and I’m convinced something will be done and they would find remedies to such in future”.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, said as part of oversight functions to NAHCON, he was on the ground to get the experiences of the pilgrims with a view to better such in future hajj operations.
“We want to see and hear from you whatever we can do to make next year’s Hajj better.”
Senator Bulkachuwa said the reduction in Hajj quota to Nigeria was due to the COVID-19 pandemic adding that with time, the issue would be addressed which would be in favour of the country.
” Nigeria used to come first or second or third in the number of pilgrims to Saudi- Arabia many years back. But now that we have some reliefs from COVID-19, Saudi authorities will listen to us”.
Ridwan Fasasi
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