Probe the 2022 Hajj operations
It is the country’s pride that for many years Nigeria had no reason to request for extension of deadline for the arrival of intending pilgrims in the holy land. Sadly, the poor planning and management of the 2022 hajj operations is suddenly reversing this feat achieved after many years of trials. Over 3,660 intending pilgrims […]
It is the country’s pride that for many years Nigeria had no reason to request for extension of deadline for the arrival of intending pilgrims in the holy land. Sadly, the poor planning and management of the 2022 hajj operations is suddenly reversing this feat achieved after many years of trials. Over 3,660 intending pilgrims from Nigeria were stranded and couldn’t travel to fulfil their lifelong ambition of performing the holy pilgrimage even as they paid their hajj fares in full. For them, it was an experience full of frustration, sweat, and tears. For those who were lucky to have made the holy trip, their painful story shows how alleged corruption, racketeering and gross incompetence of hajj officials governed this year’s exercise.
When Saudi air space was finally closed for the arrival of intending pilgrims, at least 2,550 intending pilgrims who paid through states’ pilgrims’ boards and 1,110 others who patronised licensed tour operators had not been airlifted from Nigeria. This was in addition to hundreds of others who were not issued visa despite paying for the trip. Only 31,386 pilgrims out of a total of 33,936 whose visas were issued through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) were successfully airlifted to Saudi Arabia.
The problems that marred the 2022 hajj exercise include alleged misappropriation of money paid by intending pilgrims, cutting corners in visa processing, and non-remittance of funds to NAHCON’s i-bank accounts in Saudi Arabia for processing visas. Other challenges are inability to pay service providers in lieu of pilgrims’ accommodation and feeding, and failure of assigned carriers to efficiently airlift pilgrims. These avoidable challenges led to several flight cancellations by airlines as only a few intending pilgrims were ready for airlift each time an aircraft was made available.
At least 745 intending pilgrims from Kano State missed this year’s hajj, including the Executive Secretary of Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Muhammad Abba Danbatta, due to hitches in airlift operations. Danbatta faulted NAHCON’s failure to deploy Flynas aircraft to replace Azman Air which used small capacity planes for the six flights it operated for Kano pilgrims. States that had stranded intending pilgrims include Niger, Bauchi, Edo, Gombe, Oyo and Taraba.
Besides airlifting crises, an alleged case of corruption was reported against the Area Pilgrims Officer (APO) of Bida Local Government in Niger State. The APO had directed about 150 intending pilgrims to pay their hajj fares into his personal bank account instead of the designated account domiciled in Jaiz Bank but sadly failed to remit same. The APO reportedly went missing when intending pilgrims started asking for the refund of the money they paid into his account. While some intending pilgrims accused NAHCON of incompetence and cutting corners on visa processing which led to several visa cancellations, some officials from state pilgrims’ boards alleged the sale of visa slots by some NAHCON staff; accusing NAHCON of replacing their visa slots with others from tour operators.
There was drama at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where the Executive Secretary, Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alh. Umar Makun Lapai, stopped the Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, from boarding a plane to Saudi Arabia. His action, he explained, was because 50 per cent of intending pilgrims from Niger and other states in Nigeria were yet to be airlifted.
For this year’s hajj, Nigeria was allocated 43,008 slots out of which 9,032 were allocated to licensed tour operators under the aegis of Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON). It would be recalled that the inaugural flight of Nigerian Muslim pilgrims for the 2022 hajj exercise departed Maiduguri international airport with 546 pilgrims on June 9, 2022. The airlift of pilgrims thereafter continued and lasted for 30 days after which the last flight carrying Nigerian contingents departed the country on July 7, 2022. Nigeria had to obtain extensions twice after it failed to conclude airlifting of its intending pilgrims on schedule.
NAHCON and state pilgrims’ boards after the announcement of hajj fares and guidelines by Saudi authorities had more than enough time to plan for a hitch-free hajj operation. Unfortunately, corruption became a factor in many of the challenges that confronted this year’s hajj operation.
While we call on NAHCON authorities to ensure that the same glitches encountered before the departure of pilgrims to the holy land are not repeated in their trip back to Nigeria, we strongly recommend the setting up of a high-powered panel of investigation to probe all allegations brought by pilgrims against the NAHCON, states pilgrims’ boards, airlines and tour operators. The case of visa racketeering should also be thoroughly investigated and all those found wanting must be adequately punished to avoid a repeat. Something should also be done about persons who paid for the exercise between 2019 and 2020 and were unable to make it. Nigeria must not allow the feat of recent years in hajj operations to be ruined.