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Thursday, 12th March, 2009

MINNA TO GET NEW HAJJ CAMP

The Chief Servant and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has said that a new Hajj camp is to be constructed near the Minna International Airport. He said the new camp will have provision for a big hall capable of hosting the National Qur’anic Recitation Competition and any other religious gathering.

Governor Aliyu made the announcement while inaugurating a six-man white paper committee headed by Alhaji Mamman Mohammed to look into and advise the government on the 2008 Hajj Report submitted by the Amirul-Hajj, the Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Traditional Rulers’ Council, Alhaji (Dr.) Yahaya Abubakar .

Receiving the report, Governor Aliyu thanked the Amirul-Hajj and his members for doing a wonderful job, and assured that the State Government would continue to give support to pilgrims while in the Holy Land.

He expressed displeasure at some of the observed lapses of the State Pilgrims Board and called for a more stringent screening exercise for pigrilms from the local government level to the state level saying that screening must become an all -important aspect of Hajj itself. He frowned at the way some people have made going on Hajj a status sympbol and advocated that those who have not exercised this religious obligation should be considered first before others.

The Governor also accepted the Amirul-Hajj’s suggestion on the establishment of a Hajj Volunteer Corps to ease the hardship faced by pilgrims while in the Holy Land. “We must articulate this volunteer scheme fully, we must include very learned people in the corps to help our pilgrims,” he said.

Presenting the 2008 Hajj Report, the Amirul-Hajj and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji (Dr.) Yahaya Abubakar disclosed that about 5,248 pilgrims performed last year’s Hajj out of which 2,800 were males while 2,448 were females.

The Amirul-Hajj revealed that the State Government spent about N617 million to organize the Hajj exercise which he said was very successful. He said the expenditures included the purchase of a new ambulance, 5,000 customised mattresses at Minna in Saudi Arabia, accommodation for all pilgrims, five kilogram luggage subsidy for all pilgrims, assistance to pilgrims who lost their BTA, feeding the pilgrims in some Holy sites, etc.

The Amural-Hajj’s report also recommended that the State should partner with other states to call for the de-centralisation of the process of securing aircraft for Hajj operations to allow states to deal directly with airlines for Hajj.

He also called for the introduction of Hajj Volunteer Corps that would include Hajj Guides and environmental sanitation workers to be motivated with reasonable allowances. The Etsu Nupe also called for the early appointment of Amirul-Hajj to enable them monitor preparations for the next Hajj operations.

 Alhaji (Dr.) Yahaya Abubakar also recommended the establishment of a 5-man screening committee at the local government level that would include Chairmen of the Councils, to screen prospective pilgrims three times before payment commences, after payment but before the airlift and immediately on arrival at the Hajj camp before airlift.


Bala Ibrahim Abdulkadir,

Director General