The Independent Hajj Reporters has called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards/Agencies and Commissions to consider merit in appointing ad-hoc officials for the 2025 Hajj.
The CSO said the call became imperative because of previous experiences in which some government-appointed ad hoc Hajj officials abandoned their primary responsibilities of assisting, guiding, and serving Nigerian pilgrims as soon as they entered the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“They are often also the first contingent to be flown home, effectively abandoning the very pilgrims they are supposed to assist in Saudi Arabia,” the CSO said.
In a statement signed by its national coordinator Ibrahim Muhammad on Tuesday, the CSO said the roles of officials are extremely crucial to the success of Hajj operations because neither NAHCON nor the States’ Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards have enough manpower to provide adequate services for Nigerian pilgrims, especially during offshore operations.
“NAHCON and States’ Muslim Pilgrims Boards should adopt a merit-based criterion for selection of ad-hoc teams like what is obtained in Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and other top Hajj participating countries.
“These countries do calls for applications, conduct interviews for willing candidates, screen them and made those that are eventually selected to sign an undertaking detailing their responsibilities in Saudi Arabia, the minimum and maximum days they are expected to spend in Saudi Arabia, the government approved financial benefits for the adhoc officials and penalty for failure to adhere to the engagement terms which includes complete blacklist from any future hajj exercise.
“We are concerned that political pressures by influential politicians and nepotistic considerations from some Hajj administrators have polluted the credibility in the selection of ad-hoc officials at both national and state levels. There are instances where staff of the pilgrims’ boards who are trained for the Job are left out of hajj trips while political clientelistic candidates are included. This category of hajj officials sometimes convert themselves into pilgrims to be served, demanding preferential treatment and constituting an additional burden to Hajj administrators in Saudi Arabia,” it said.
