NAHCON: Entrenching a new order

With the lunar month of Rajab winding down, the country’s 85 million Muslim population have begun to set their eyes on the performance of the Holy pilgrimage to Makkah like their counterparts in other parts of the world. For them, this once in a lifetime spiritual journey offers spiritual cleansing as according to the Prophet […]

With the lunar month of Rajab winding down, the country’s 85 million Muslim population have begun to set their eyes on the performance of the Holy pilgrimage to Makkah like their counterparts in other parts of the world.
For them, this once in a lifetime spiritual journey offers spiritual cleansing as according to the Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) “anyone who successfully performs hajj in accordance with and in the spirit of and injunctions of Allah, is not only entitled to a divine peace and blessing on earth, but a promise of Abode of Paradise as a reward.”
It was therefore in line with the age long trite that “whoever fails to plan, planned to fail” that the management of (NAHCON) created a new architecture to ensure that Nigerian pilgrims have full value for their money.”
Since the conclusion of the 2015 Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has introduced several “digital” programme packed with new innovative features.
Looking back at the last six months, it has been glorious times for Hajj in Nigeria as the Sokoto House (the Commission headquarters) has become a ‘Theatre of Dream with ‘the introduction of new guidelines and rules that will definitely improve the service and welfare of Nigerian pilgrims.
One of the innovations that the commission has brought into the fore is the insistence that all pilgrims from the state boards must be First Timer.  Though the seed for this has been planted some years ago, but only now is the fruit coming to blossom.  Again the consensus of opinion then was that the introduction must be gradual.  It was for this reason that over the past five years, the percentage of first timer are being increased systematically from 80/90 percent.  But this year, all the pilgrims from the state would be First Timers except for the officials in line with the best practice obtained in other parts of the Muslim world.
Apart from affording new comers opportunity to perform their spiritual obligation, this policy would also reduce the fraud lent practices witnessed during registration as more often than not fraudster usually exploit the desperate nature of some First Timer to defraud them.
Perhaps, one of the most important developments will be “digital wrist-band.”  This is a personal tracking mechanism with blue-chip device that would help locate Nigerian pilgrims at any given time or point in the Holy Land.
This innovation is coming against the background of the ugly incident that occurred last year, when hundreds of Nigerian pilgrims died as a result of stampede at the Jammat, while several other missing pilgrims are yet to be identified or located.
The wrist-band device contained all the personal data and information of every pilgrims and will serve as a trucking device during the pilgrimage.  With this device, it would be bye-bye to “missing” Nigerian pilgrims.  Aside this, it would also prevent identity problem. It is common knowledge that the Saudi authorities assumed that every black African pilgrim is a Nigerian, therefore with the wrist-band, there won’t be any more case of other African countries claiming to be Nigerian again.
In line with the current Federal Government campaign against corruption, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) also launch a campaign to tackle fraud relating to the Hajj.  It has been observed over the years that many fraudulent Hajj and Umrah operators target Muslims planning to go on pilgrimage.  Therefore, as part of the national campaign, the commission has forwarded names of some Tour companies to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.  The chairman/CEO, Barrister Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammed has also warned the operators to desist or be ready to face the music.
According to him, it won’t be business as usual as the commission has zero-tolerance for corruption or any related activities, and that he would not hesitate to de-list any company that has its fingers in all the ‘cooks and jars’.
It is also quite important to kick-up the breeze before the Hajj proper, so that many of the intending pilgrims can differentiate between facts and fallacies.
First of all, with the insistence and cooperation of (NAHCON), the 36 states boards/agencies have feature and focus more on the provision of comfortable accommodation for pilgrims in Makkah and Medina.
The states have secured good accommodation with either a grade A or B status – meaning it is no longer business as usual in terms of the qualities of accommodation to the pilgrims.  It is however, not only in quality that the pilgrims will breathe a sigh of relief, but also in the distance particularly in Medina where hitherto pilgrims are accommodated far apart from one another.
The ongoing modernization in Madina has seen many buildings on hitherto Nigerian favoured residential areas pulled down for infrastructural development.  They are now to be situated in the Markaziyah Reservation Area of which just a stone throw away from the Haram in Medina.   Imagine the situation where a pilgrim got down from his house and just walk into the Haram mosque in Medina.
It will also be a good day for pilgrims during the Muna/Arafat day in terms of transportation system.  Though Nigerians and indeed the non-Arab African are still looking forward to the day when they too would begin to enjoy the mono-train service.
However, it is heartwarming news that beginning from this year, Nigerian pilgrims would be saved from being transport in old buses.  The reality of the new situation is that the Saudi Transport Agency has phased and all manufactured buses prior to 2008, so our pilgrims would now be conveyed in luxurious buses.
While the Muslim would want to quickly forget the unfortunate incident that happened last year when hundreds of them met their untimely death during the Jamrat as a result of stampede, it wouldn’t be an over statement to say that the harsh weather contributed greatly to the high death rate.  On the basis of this, the commission has made it a duty to convince the service providers in Saudi Arabia to install cooling system in Arafat tent to prevent dehydration.
Also as part of the forward looking idea, the Commission has been networking on how to ensure the Nigerian pilgrims could also witness a changed atmosphere in Muna where Nigerians nay non-African Arabs have become constant as a northern star in the outskirt of Muna/Muzdalifa boundary area.  NAHCON and the Nigeria government have been deeply concerned about the plights of Nigerian pilgrims and mounted diplomatic pressure to ensure our pilgrims are relocated from the hitherto traditional area.  
It is therefore cherry news that the Saudi government has promised to change the creation nearest to the JAMRAT AREA.  If this is achieved, it portends that the elderly Nigerian pilgrims and the indigent would literally walk into the stone-throwing sites from the cocoon of their instead of the long-hour trek to the most important Hajj sites.
 Mousa Ubandawaki is a staff of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abuja.