Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed is angry with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) over alleged poor manner of the 2024 hajj operations in Saudi Arabia.
The Governor, who was interacting with the state pilgrims at Mina, the city of tents in Mecca today, June 29, called for the decentralization of most of the Hajj operations in a manner that would allow state governments to take full control of Hajj affairs.
He said that the decentralization would ensure adequate welfare of the pilgrims from States who paid for Hajj seats through their respective States’ Pilgrims Welfare Boards.
He said that in this year’s Hajj exercise, pilgrims were subjected to untold hardships due to the unfavourable policies introduced by NAHCON and relevant stakeholders.
The Governor specifically made reference to the provision of less than 500 US dollars as a Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) to each pilgrim despite the exorbitant charges of over N8m paid for a Hajj seat.
Governors Bala Mohammed assured that the state governors would work collectively to break the monopoly of Hajj Affairs by NAHCON if measures are not taken to address the challenges identified.
The Governor donated the sum of 300 Saudi Riyals to each of the 2,680 Bauchi state pilgrims as Sallah gifts.
He asked them to continue to pray for the peace and stability of Nigeria, particularly the success of government policies and programmes.
This was even as the Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Jalal Ahmad Arabi told State contingents that the challenges are beyond the control of the Commission.
He commended the pilgrims for their patience and understanding towards achieving success in the Hajj exercise, assuring that the Federal Government will look into all the complaints and work towards addressing the issues before the next exercise.
Source: Tribune Online.
