Nigerian Hajj stakeholders gathered in Abuja on Wednesday to brain storm on the best way to conduct seamless and successfully hajj operations. The event was organized by the Independent Hajj Reporters, a civil society organization that monitors and reports hajj activities in Nigeria.
In his welcome address, the national coordinator of the groups said It is important for us to acknowledge that despite the challenges encountered during the 2024 Hajj, about 58,000 Nigerians Muslims were airlifted to Saudi Arabia for this years exercise. This figure showed that Nigeria still has the largest number of pilgrims from Africa and maintains its status as the fifth largest Hajj contingent in the world a reason to honour those who contributed to the relative success achieved.
He called for timely preparations as first step towards successful hajj exercise according to him According to the Saudi Arabian 2025 Hajj Calendar, we have 134 days to the commencement of processing and issuance of Hajj visa from today. The first set of 2025 Hajj pilgrims will arrive Saudi Arabia on the 29th of April 2025 which is approximately 237 days from today. The day of Arafat is projected to be on the 5th of June which is 273 days from today.
More importantly, the commencement of contracts with Saudi based Service Providers on service packages, choice and reservation of spaces in Mina will begin on 23rd October, 2024 less than 30 days from now.
It is worrisome that Nigeria is yet to begin pilgrims registrations even when other Hajj participant countries that operate three to five years Hajj rolling plan have already gone far in registration of intending pilgrims.
Given the above, Independent Hajj Reporters will like to use this opportunity to appeal to the Senate to convene an emergency meeting at the committee level to screen and possibly clear the newly appointed NAHCON Chairman to save the industry from eating away more valuable time and kick start the implementation of 2025 Hajj calendar. The time is now.
This year, a total of 1,833,164 pilgrims performed Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Of this number, 1,611,310 were from Hajj participating countries, while domestic pilgrims – both citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia – reached 221,854. The number of male pilgrims this year reached 958,137, while female pilgrims totaled 875,027.
“A breakdown of pilgrims from Nigeria and other Hajj countries showed that 22.3 percent came from Arab countries, 63.3 percent, the largest group, from Asian non-Arab countries, 11.3 percent from African non-Arab countries, 3.2 percent from Europe, America, Australia, and other unclassified regions.
We rolled out this statistic to understand the complex nature of Hajj and difficulties on serving hundreds of thousands of people undertaking a religious and spiritual exercise in the same place at the same time with the same passion of attaining Hajj Mabrur
Given the above, Independent Hajj Reporters commends the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their round the clock commitment in serving the Muslim Ummah, by deploying both human and other resources to host the Guests of Ar-Rahman. May Almighty Allah continue to protect the Holy land and their leaders.
Ameen
Permit to say at this juncture that the Independent Hajj Reporters is deeply concerned that the Hajj Industry is facing negative media reportage owing to the outright breach of trust by those who are saddled with the responsibility of shepherding our pilgrims. It is a challenge we cannot shy away from especially being a Major Media Stakeholder in the Hajj and Umrah Industry.
However, while we admit the obvious fraudulent activities of some Hajj administrators, the misinformation and outright disparagement of NAHCON from an interested group within the Hajj and Umrah system is giving us a lot of concern. We should identify the lapses and single out the administrator that has erred as opposed to condemning NAHCON as an institution.
There is need to review the structure of Hajj Administration across the federating units through legal and policy overhaul to create avenue for honest, competent and experienced people to superintend the Hajj and Umrah affairs in Nigeria. Anything short of this will amount to dancing around a cycle.
Our focus revolves around satisfaction of pilgrims within the standard Hajj operating procedure that takes cognizance of fulfillment of the Almighty Allahs injunctions on Hajj Mabrur.
The guest lecturer, Professor Wasiu O. Gabadeen stressed the important of adhering to time during Hajj. He called for Effective Communication and Coordination and Establish clear communication channels between all stakeholders involved in the Hajj operations, including government agencies, Hajj organizers and service providers. Establish and circulate among stakeholders the Communication Charter. Schedule regularmeetings and updates to discuss progress,address challenges,and make necessary adjustments to the plan. Adoption of Emerging Technologies, utilize digital tools and software for planning, scheduling, and communication to streamline operations and improve efficiency. Implement real-time tracking systems to monitor the movementof pilgrims and ensure their safety and well-being.
