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Tag: Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan

  • NAHCON has reached significant stage on 2022 Hajj – Chairman

    NAHCON has reached significant stage on 2022 Hajj – Chairman

    The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says it has reached a significant preparatory stage with critical partners essential to the success of the 2022 Hajj operations.

    The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, made the statement in his eid-el-fitr message to Muslims on Monday in Abuja.

    ” By the special favour of the Almighty, we witness the end of Ramadan fast, glory be to Him that makes any situation possible.

    ” On behalf of my humble self, NAHCON board, management, and entire members of staff, I congratulate Nigerian Muslims for being alive to celebrate this joyous occasion of Eid-el-Fitr.

    ” I pray that we have exited the holy month of Ramadan with an exalted demeanor than when we started. I also pray that the Almighty grants the supplications that we made for ourselves and for our country.

    ” May all our acts of worship be rewarded with jannatul firdaus,” he said.

    Hassan said that the commission was exploring every possible window to minimise the inevitable increase in Hajj fare.

    ” It is in the light of this that I urge our intending pilgrims and other stakeholders to reciprocate NAHCON’s effort through timely payment of dues as soon as the final fare for Hajj 2022 is announced.

    ” A timely move in this direction will help management in determining the number of pilgrims the commission will be making arrangements for, which is an important paradigm for a successful Hajj,” he said.

    He revealed that NAHCON’s delegation to Saudi Arabia received briefing on some policy guidelines pertaining to few areas of hajj operation.

    “The guidelines include, the restriction of four pilgrims to a room and the organisation of 45 pilgrims in a group under one supervisor.

    ” Details of the grouping procedure will follow subsequently,” he said.

    Hassan, therefore, encouraged stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of organising such groups to start strategising to meet up with the requirements when the time comes.

    ” Another new plan in this year’s hajj is that feeding in Masha’ir that will be managed by the Mu’assasa; this is the Muna, Muzdalifa and Arafat domains where pilgrims relocate to for devotional retreat.

    ” It is my strongest conviction that Hajj 2022 will be a success, if we resolve to collectively contribute our quota toward attaining a hitch-free 2022 Hajj operations.”

  • 2022 PILGRIMAGE EXERCISE: Kaduna, Sokoto get highest allocation as Bayelsa, Imo, and Rivers receive zero

    2022 PILGRIMAGE EXERCISE: Kaduna, Sokoto get highest allocation as Bayelsa, Imo, and Rivers receive zero

    Nigerian pilgrims may pay as much as N2.5 million to participate in the 2022 pilgrimage exercise, as Kaduna and Sokoto received the highest allocation of 2,491 and 2,404 hajj slots while states like Bayelsa, Imo, and Rivers got zero allocation.

    Disclosing this on Thursday, The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria said the amount is over 50 per cent increase from N1million paid by pilgrims in 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19, which stalled Hajj operations.

     

    The Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, announced the projection during a meeting with executives of the State Pilgrims Board for the preparation of the 2022 Hajj.

     

    According to him, the projection of the increase was due to an increase in the foreign exchange rate, a rise in inflation by almost 10 per cent, and the increase of Value Added Tax from 5 to 15 per cent by Saudi authorities.

     

    Hassan said the commission did not have control over the factors.

     

    “The projection is on the increase because as of 2019, the exchange rate for Hajj was N306, but now it will be at N410 to a dollar. We all know that Hajj is 97 per cent by foreign exchange for food, airlines and others.

     

    “In addition, Saudi Arabia has increased their VAT from 5 to 15 per cent. We will try our best to mitigate whatever hardship this will cost the pilgrims. Still, I am sure for many people who wished two or three years ago to go to the holy land, and this won’t be a sacrifice too many,” he said.

     

    The NAHCON CEO said out of 43,008 slots given to Nigeria, 33,976 would go to states. At the same time, 9,032 would be allocated to private tour operators.

     

    Speaking on the sharing formula, he said Kaduna and Sokoto received the highest allocation of 2,491 and 2,404, while states like Bayelsa, Imo, and Rivers got zero allocation.

     

    Explaining why these states were not given a slot, the NAHCON boss said the states did not meet the requirements to be licensed to organise Hajj.

     

    “The commission licenses the tour operators that are managing Hajj and Umrah. So equally are all states licensed. So those states without allocation have not met the requirements to be licensed, so they can’t perform.

     

    “When a state is not licensed, it is not permitted for that state to organise Hajj or Umrah. For Muslims in that state and are desirous of performing Hajj, the commission would care for that,” he said.

     

    On the backlog of payments already made by pilgrims, he said selection would be made based on a first-come-first-serve basis with a sharing formula of 40 per cent for the regular Hajj and 60 per cent for those on Hajj Savings Scheme.

     

    Hassan said the prospective pilgrims would be required to be fully vaccinated with a booster shot, saying that a PCR test is also a must.