By; MOHAMMED ABDULLAHI
The 2022 Hajj Operation has come and gone, but it appears the dust raised by the detractors of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) is yet to die down, the need to put the records straight.
The commission has already brought several reforms which have been yielding results and those who are not happy with these reforms are hiding under some dubious organizations to discredit NAHCON, but the board is miles ahead of them.
The recent call by unknown NGO, the Movement for Greater Nigeria and Good Governance (MGNGG) for the anti-graft agencies in the country, particularly EFCC and ICPC to probe the Hajj Commission was nothing but an agenda to discredit the board under Alhaji Zikrullah for its giant strides within a very short time in office.
Acting under the utterances made by the Kano State Governor, His Excellency Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje that the 2022 Hajj Exercise was the worst he has ever witnessed as a governor, the coalition of the anti-graft organizations called on the National Assembly and the anti-graft agencies to swoop on the commission and audit its accounts.
With the pull him down syndrome becoming a culture in Nigeria, detractors now use coalitions to settle scores on opponents and perceived enemies but unfortunately these coalitions are also dubious and therefore, lack credibility in the eyes of the public.
Interestingly, the coalition accepted the fact that the ICPC has already commenced investigations into the allegations. But then if the coalition is aware that investigations are ongoing, what is the noise for, if they were not sponsored? Is the coalition saying it has no confidence in the ICPC again? By their actions, we now know they are acting a script.
The short-term achievements recorded by the Alhaji Zikrullah-led board especially the positive reforms put in place are the major reasons why the commission has become an envious tool in the eyes of those sponsoring these negative calls for a probe.
As tradition demands, at the end of every eventful or uneventful exercise, there should be a stock-taking to put the records straight by dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s for future exercises. Those calling for a probe have to do soul-searching on their official responsibilities and give an account of their stewardship before throwing stones at others.
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones because they might end up breaking their own glass houses.
While receiving the 2022 Hajj Report from the Kano State Pilgrims Agency, governor Ganduje accused the National Hajj Commission of dishonesty, that many intending pilgrims could not perform the last exercise because of NAHCON’s inefficiency and mismanagement.
About 700 intending pilgrims from Kano State could not perform the last exercise and rather than the governor finding out the real reasons why it happened, he was fed lies by the same people responsible for that failure.
The administrative greed and incompetence of the local agency in Kano was the major reason why those 700 people could not be airlifted. The National Hajj Commission vetted AZMAN air for the 2022 airlift of pilgrims from Kano while the local agency wanted Max Air, could there be a link between this preference and the uncooperative approach from Kano?
The mismanagement Governor Ganduje was talking about is right there at his doorstep, because those 700 intending pilgrims who could not be airlifted were victims of greed by Kano officials.
AZMAN air was twice on the ground for boarding in Kano, but the administrative inefficiency exhibited by Kano officials made those flights canceled, and the airplane diverted to Kaduna State which was more ready for the exercise than Kano.
Nigeria got a little over 43 Hajj seats last year, and out of this figure, only about 1,500 intending Pilgrims were affected, Kano having over half of the figure.
Both committee chairmen of the Senate and the House of Reps gave a clean slate to NAHCON on the last exercise. Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa is the Chairman of the committee on Foreign Affairs, while Hon. Abubakar Nalaraba is his counterpart at the House and they both commended the commission for a job well done.
According to them, despite many challenges from the exchange rate and the increase in VAT, the commission excelled and made Nigeria proud.
Some of the 36 state pilgrims agencies were not happy with the mother body for introducing the Hajj Saving Scheme which will reduce cases of fraud and disappearance of people’s money by state officials.
There have been several cases of state officials diverting or running away with money belonging to intending Pilgrims. It happened in Yobe, Niger, and Plateau to mention just a few.
The Hajj Saving Scheme is to benefit both the commission and intending Pilgrims and its advantages are many. Almost two years into the scheme, it has over 12, 945 subscribers with over N1.5 billion deposit that has yielded over N70 million in profits.
The National Hajj Commission under Zikrullah Kunle Hassan has succeeded in making it a competitive commission like those in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan which have always been ahead of others and so his detractors are brooding, why him if not they?
The commission is now rubbing shoulders with other International bodies and some are not happy so to them, the commission must fail rather than succeed.
Mohammed Abdullahi,
N0. J4 Katsina Road, Kaduna
