Friday, October 20, 2017

“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has started preparation and implementations of 2018 hajj blueprint, even before the return airlift of 2017 hajj pilgrims come to a close,” a statement by the civil society’s national coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammed and publicity secretary, Abubakar Mahmoud, said.

Last week, the apex hajj regulatory body had placed advertorials inviting tour operators to apply for 2018 hajj seat allocation, which is one of the major components of hajj operations.

Independent Hajj Reporters said “to complement NAHCON, States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards/Agencies should begin the process of enlightening potential pilgrims on the need to register early. We believe that most of the challenges faced during 2017 hajj were due to late registration of pilgrims.” 

Hajj stakeholders were also reminded how the late registration of pilgrims and its attendant controversy almost jeopardized 2017 hajj exercise.

“Securing and signing contracts for accommodation, screening and appointing air carriers, mandatory deposits for services like car syndicates, pilgrims’ tents in Muna and Arafat, United Agent Services, payment for feeding and other logistics should be done early,” the statement said.

It said countries like India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh have since begun full-scale preparation for 2018 hajj. 

The civil society also urged NAHCON to advice hajj service providers to partake in pilgrims’ enlightenment programmes. 

“As critical stakeholders, service providers should invest in pilgrims’ orientation to complement NAHCON and state pilgrims’ boards on pilgrims’ enlightenment programs. Pilgrims needs to know the nature of services they (hajj service providers) offer,” the civil society said. 

Source: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/civil-society-tasks-pilgrims-boards-on-early-hajj-preparation.html