The federal government has sponsored 152 Muslim clerics to Saudi Arabia to pray for the country and preach during the 2024 hajj.
The clerics were bankrolled by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
This figure was confirmed to 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE in Makkah by NAHCON Commissioner in charge of Planning, Research, Statistics, Information and Library Services (PRSILS), Professor Abubakar A Yagawal, on Friday.
In a telephone interview in Makkah, Professor Yagawal confirmed that the commission has “sponsored 152 clerics” to Saudi Arabia for hajj.
The number of clerics brought by NAHCON to Saudi Arabia was first revealed earlier in the week by the Chairman of Izalatul Bidi’a Wa’ikamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, in Makkah.
He said NAHCON has sponsored “over 153 clerics” to hajj for prayers and preaching to pilgrims.
Sheikh Lau, who spoke in Hausa, revealed this in Makkah during a preaching session organized by JIBWIS within the week.
Over 60,000 Nigerians are among the 1.9 million Muslims that participated in the just concluded hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The JIBWIS leader said the clerics had prayed for Nigeria and preached to Nigerian pilgrims in the tent city of Muna, Arafat and in their various accommodations in Makkah.
He commended NAHCON under the leadership of Malam Jalal Arabi for “sponsoring the largest number of clerics contingent to hajj.”
Mr Lau said the NAHCON chief deserved special prayers for achieving this unprecedented feat. “We must pray for Malam Jalal Arabi for sponsoring the largest number of Nigerian clerics to hajj,” Mr Lau said.
The JIBWIS chief expressed happiness that majority of the clerics brought to Saudi Arabia by NAHCON were of “Sunnah, not Bidi’a” denominations, underscoring the preference given to Salafi — Wahabi clerics, against those of the Tijjaniyya and Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhoods.
On the eve of the 2024 hajj, President Bola Tinubu had approved N90 billion subsidy to over 50,000 pilgrims that registered under the states quota.
NAHCON —Nigeria’s apex hajj and Umrah regulatory agency — has fixed N8.45 million as hajj fare for 2024 state pilgrims.
Saudi Arabia had earlier allocated 95,000 hajj slots to Nigeria, 75,000 for states and 20,000 for registered private tour operators.
