We need a strong data base for effective pilgrimage – Sultan

As Amirul Hajj for last year’s hajj, it seems that you are uncomfortable with the operation of Tour Operators for international pilgrims. What will be the fate of the Tour Operators next year?   I think there is need for us to sit down and look holistically and find solution to the problems of international […]

As Amirul Hajj for last year’s hajj, it seems that you are uncomfortable with the operation of Tour Operators for international pilgrims. What will be the fate of the Tour Operators next year?

 

I think there is need for us to sit down and look holistically and find solution to the problems of international pilgrims. By my understanding of the international pilgrims, the ideal situation is that a Nigerian muslim gets his visa from Saudi authorities, buys his ticket through international routes either using Emirate or Egypt Air or Ethiopian Airlines or any airline that comes to Nigeria, and then flies to Saudi Arabia, all through his immigration formalities. He then finds himself at his own expense using different tents at Mina and Arafat, using different transport systems that, to my own understanding, is for international pilgrims.

However, what we have  in Nigeria is somebody will buy his ticket, then he  will  go through all these tour operators, who are licensed by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), to bring pilgrims. When they come here [Saudi Arabia], that is where it ends.

They mix with the pilgrims who come through NAHCON and stay with them in their tents at Mina. They will eat with them because as muslims, we are all brothers and sisters. They use their transport. Sometimes, to go to Arafat and other places, because we can’t say ‘no’ to them. Then at the end of the hajj exercises, the tour operators will start looking for slots to take them back home much, much earlier than those who came before them. Why they do  this is because they want to spend a minimum number of days here, which is to  the disadvantage of normal pilgrims who will spend about 35 days, or up to 40 days in Saudi Arabia.

The problem we found out is that some of the  airlines use the same aircraft that bring in the normal pilgrims from Nigeria, and they would be looking for a space, slots to take these international pilgrims back home.  So, we find that it disrupts our flight schedules since we had scheduled from Nigeria that those who come in first are the ones to go back first. Therefore, you find  the international tour operators  now agitating for slots to take the international  pilgrims back home, and we agree they are Nigerians, they are Muslims, and they are our responsibilities as long as they are here with us.

However, I believe the airlines should find better ways to handle such things. Better ways in the sense that they should get theirown separate slots, separate and plain and different  from the one they use to bring Nigerian pilgrims. This will solve the problems.
In fact, what is international with the International pilgrims? There are issues that we want to table to all the states stakeholders meeting at the post mortem meeting in Abuja and bring in these issues so that the Ummah takes a decision on this particular thing. If they feel, yes these tour operators should continue taking pilgrims, there is nothing wrong with it. However, saying that international pilgrims have to be given priority over normal pilgrims, I think is something that needs  to be looked into. So, when the time come we are expecting to hear comments and memorandum from the people to find the way forward. I went to the airport and some of them I met had spent three days at the airport. One funny thing I heard from them was that I gave the instructions that they should not be taken home. I said I don’t  have a plane to carry you home, I don’t have a slot to give you soon, how could I stop you from going home? I didn’t bring you so go and hold the tour operators who brought you to take you back home.

Many pilgrims related some problems they encountered with the fact that they didn’t see their officials during hajj operations, particularly in Mina, meaning that the officials somehow distanced themselves from their pilgrims.

Well, these are some issues we want to discuss at the post mortem meeting. We are looking at the possibility of how to get even the Amirul-Hajj tent be located in the middle of where the Nigerian pilgrims are, so that we can have easy access, because where we were this year is almost about 4-5 kilometers. Because they are towards the dispensary of Arafat/Muzdalifa and it is very far from where we were. We will discuss this. So we are planning that  the Amirul-Hajj tent be located where the Nigerian pilgrims are not far away from.          

You were the Amirul-Hajj during the 2006 and 2007 Hajj. You had a dream because of the situation you found about the chaotic nature of operating hajj in Nigeria. You pushed to ensure the coming up on board of the board of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and, in fact, the commission itself.  I would want you to compare what you saw in 2006/7 with the operation that the Hajj Commission has carried out from its inception till now.    
Alhamdu Lillahi. What I have to say about the hajj exercise in the last five years is  that we have come a long way. Virtually, the hajj commission has done a lot in the last five years. They have  been  organising hajj for Nigerians. I know there is still a lot to be done in the total organisation, which will involve all and sundry, not just the hajj commission but  even the common pilgrim. Because in  preparing to travel, there is a lot to be done by him and on him. Then there is a lot to be done about the  flight schedule.
And then also, the general organisation we know as regards to the comfort of our pilgrims both at Medina while they first visited before coming down to Mina, Arafat, there is a lot of changes, but still, there is a lot to be done before we can say we have the ideal working situation or working formula to be used for hajj in our country. But I think Alhamdu lilllahi, I will say so far, so good.
The problem is, when you are making progress positively, you need to continue working hard, not just to maintain that level you have reached, but pass on to surpass it. But if you stop, if you hold on, you may still go back to zero level, and that is why, it is a big challenge, not to the Hajj Commission alone, or to the Muslim leadership, but to all Nigerians, all Muslims in particular.
We must obey simple rule, regulations and instructions given for the successful performance of hajj rites.               
Talking about sustaining the momentum, what do you think the Commission should do?

In anything in life, there is need for continuity, and we expect to see that of a National Hajj Commission being  reconstituted at the end of the tenure of this commission, which, I think, is in April or thereabout. They must have spent their four years, and whether these same chairman and his  commissioners will still be there.

Talking about consolidation, in what specific areas do you want the Hajj Commission that will come on board?
I think we will need to really screen those Muslim brothers and sisters going for hajj. We need to have a data. Whenever you punch your computer you should know how many went for hajj  in the last five years or thereabout. So, you need to have a very strong data to fall back on. We also need a situation where we can even now determine the number of pilgrims going for Hajj next year immediately so that they start preparing, because we want to have this simple plan, whether you collect people’s money or not. There should be a system where they could now be earmarked as possible pilgrims, and the money being paid. Since we know the figure given to us by Saudi authorities, we can always work on that. I think the earlier we start preparing the number for each state, the better; and when all these are kept in the computers, we can always reach out to them.
So, I want to see the new commission working to enhance and strengthen this area. For example, if there is any pilgrim who misbehaves in the Holy Land, we should know who he is. He should be in the system and he could be banned from subsequent hajj operations and I think when we do that, we would be better for it because there are so many Nigerians who want to go for hajj but the figures are never enough.
For us to really stimulate hajj operations in Nigeria, we need to have a very strong database, and if that one is done the other things would be simple. We can ask each local government to send names of the prospective adult Muslim pilgrims from their local governments in the next five years, for example, and then we have that data. From there, you can start working. So if Ahmad Bello now applies, his name is there. You just punch on his name, how old is he, his means of livelihood, can he really afford to go on hajj, or is  the government going to pay for him? So if the government is going to pay for him, we can now ask the government  to send the names of those it  wants  to sponsor early. But not to wait till the last minute when people are to depart and then government sends the list of a hundred people. So, if we now set the time  limit, we can receive names from any particular organisation, I think it would be better for us.

How much emphasis do you think is needed on public enlightenments of pilgrims and officials themselves?

You see, in the series of meetings the Hajj Commission organises with the various states, certain things are emphasised. So we  expect the states to go back and  also arrange seminars and discussions  for people, but I think some of them don’t do it. That is why you find out that there is still this lack of adequate education about what is expected from a pilgrim.
I have gone round and some of the questions people asked are  really eye-opening, in the sense that some people are saying that  before even going there, there  should be a training programme for them on what they expect when they go on hajj. If you  follow the rules for hajj, by the time you arrive at the Holy Land,if  you intend to perform Tamattu’I, Ifrad, or Qiran, you should know what to do. But some people don’t  have this knowledge and  when they come, they start asking questions. Some people came from Medina and  they wanted to do Tamattu’I and they did Umrah and so on, so people are not well educated. These are what are happening in the  states.
What we want is when we give the instructions or proposals to states, they don’t   go back to their states and implement such things to help the majority of the pilgrims. These are the things I believe the Hajj Commission has been doing and we intend to bring this out strongly at the post-mortem meeting of this hajj which we intent to call in Abuja.