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Tag: nigerian pilgrims

  • 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.

  • Nigerian pilgrims boost Madinah hospitality industry

    The hospitality industry in Madinah has witnessed a boost, following the arrival of Nigerian pilgrims in the city for the 2019 Hajj, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
    A NAN correspondent in Madinah reports that many Nigerian pilgrims were seen booking for lodging in some of the hotels located in the Al-Salam area of Madinah.
    A check by NAN revealed that several Nigerians lodged in some of the hotels such as Wefadah Alzalrah, Gulnar Alsalam and Diyar Alsalam.
    NAN also reports that some of the pilgrims, especially women, are engaging in purchase of gift items and other basic needs.
    The gift items, according to them, are meant for presentation to their families, friends and well-wishers upon return home from the pilgrimage.
    Some Nigerian women were also seen selling Nigerian foods such as rice, beans, chicken and tuwo masara, among others.
    An operator of a provision store, AbdulAziz Abdulmalik, in an interview with NAN, described the presence of Nigerian pilgrims in the city as a positive development.
    Abdulmalik added that the Nigerian pilgrims are boosting commercial activities in Madinah.
    “I have made some profits since the arrival of pilgrims in Madinah, especially those from Nigeria who check into my shop to buy one thing or the other,’’ he said.
    Sources from the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) indicate that no fewer than 15,629 pilgrims from Nigeria had so far arrived Madinah in 33 flights for this year’s Hajj.
    Ahmed Magari, the Madinah Coordinator of NAHCON for 2019 Hajj, told journalists that the commission had contracted a Madinah-based transport company, Hafil, to transport about 35,000 Nigerian pilgrims from the city to Makkah for continuation of their Hajj rites.
    In a show of hospitality to the pilgrims, some Arabs were seen giving them chilled bottled water and other packed foods.

  • Two other Nigerian pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia

    Two Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia have been confirmed dead by the Nigerian pilgrimage mission in the country.

    It was learned that a Nigerian pilgrim died in an elevator pit after stepping on the platform without knowing it was under repair.

    Medical officials tied to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said the tragedy was being studied by reviewing a CCTV footage of the incident.

    Later in the day, the Kaduna State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board announced the loss of another pilgrim (name withheld) from Lere area of the state.

    A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the board, Yunusa Abdullahi, said the pilgrim died at a Hospital in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, after a protracted illness.

    Eight Nigerian pilgrims have died since the beginning of the 2018 Hajj.