NAHCON to adopt ‘queuing system’ for 2022 hajj
He noted that the commission has taken steps to ensure that those who want a refund were paid through states’ hajj agencies
A picture taken on July 29, 2020 shows pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba,(Photo by STR / AFP)
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said that it would adopt the queuing system for the 2022 hajj pilgrimage.
The system allows the hajj commission to first attend to those who had registered and paid for the exercise earlier.
NAHCON said the queuing system has become imperative to clear the backlog of intending pilgrims who could not perform the spiritual exercise as a result of cancellation of international hajj for two consecutive years.
The commission’s chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, stated this at a capacity-building workshop for information officers of State Pilgrims Welfare boards in Abuja.
“The reality of our time is that a queuing system is unavoidable with the backlog of two consecutively cancelled hajj seasons vis-à-vis a limited slots allocation system of the host country. For now, it suffices to say we cannot afford to remain running the hajj system in the traditional way at a time the world is reaping proceeds from gainful change through digitization of hajj registration and its entire operation,” he said. He stated that the cancellation of international hajj underscored the need for Nigerian Muslims to patronise the Hajj Savings Scheme introduced by the commission.
He noted that the commission has taken steps to ensure that those who want a refund were paid through states’ hajj agencies, “while those who wish to roll-over in anticipation of the next hajj can do so by retaining their monies with the boards or migrate their monies into the Hajj Savings Scheme”