Niger Pilgrims welfare Board clears air on accommodation arrangements in Saudi Arabia.
Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board has said that it is committed to the welfare of its Pilgrims for a hitch free Hajj Operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It was on this premise , that the State Government paid for the Hadayah (Animal Sacrifice) of all the Pilgrims from the State and of recent gave all the pilgrims SR 200 each as Sallah gifts, thereby improving the welfare and bringing succor to the pilgrims as this year’s Baisc Traveling Allowance (BTA) given by NAHCON was inadequate.
The Board Public Relations Officer,Jibrin Usman Kodo in a Press release said clarification has become necessary in view of the recent deliberate media lampoon of the Niger State Government accommodation arrangements, alluding to the claim that it is located in an isolated area, far away from the holy Mosque and have denied quite a number of the pilgrims the opportunity to observe their obligatory prayers at the Haram.
The media reports depicts lack of depth of investigation before publication ,been ignorant of the facts or/and mischievous just to tarnish the image of the State Government whose position on the activities of NAHCON is for the betterment of the Pilgrims.
It may interest the readers to know that, the State Pilgrims Welfare Board,have provided 7 no buses that would be Shuttling all pilgrims to the Haram to and fro 24 hours every day to observe their five daily prayers.
The board noted that the rule is that; Yearly, NAHCON pegs the amount for the Bed spaces for every States which is always not sufficient in securing accommodations close to the holy mosque, after which they inspect, negotiate and certify the accommodation before granting permission to State Pilgrims, and NAHCON have done all that before the state’s Pilgrims Welfare board secured the accommodation.
The Niger State accommodation even though a bit far from Haram was not the only one in the area, there are also other States in other different areas not close to Haram which was inspected, negotiated and certified by NAHCON who didn’t make available buses for their pilgrims.
The board observed that , accommodation arrangement in Makkah for Niger State Pilgrims is far better than the accommodation provided by NAHCON in Madina for the pilgrims in terms of Standard and Structure.
It should also be noted that the hotels provided for the pilgrims in Makkah are better than most of the hotels close to the Haram which are in a state of dilapidation posing risk and can cause havoc to our pilgrims adding that the accommodation in Makkah for Niger state pilgrims was secured after due diligence for safety.
Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board under the leadership of Sheikh Muhammad Awwal Aliyu therefore wish to reiterates its support to the pronouncement of the State Governor, Farmer Umaru Muhammad Bago for a review of the activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for a hassle free Hajj Operation in the country.
The Board posited that NAHCON should allow States to handle all Hajj activities including feeding and accommodation in Madina, feeding and Tents in Muna as well as providing Medical Facilities during the entire Hajj operations among others.
Accordingly, the Board disassociated itself from the position of dissenting views, emphasizing that NAHCON should be regulatory agency not operators.
