Plateau State Governor Caleb Muftwang has approved to sponsor 670 Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem despite the forex crisis and insecurity ravaging the state.
This was revealed by the Executive Secretary of the Plateau Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board (PCPWB), Rev. Wanson Yusufu, in an interview with NAN on Sunday in Jos.
Rev Yusufu said the state government will sponsor 500 pilgrims, while the local government areas will sponsor 170 for the 2024 pilgrimage.
He said the security issue is also one of the factors that would affect the review of the number of the contingents.
“Our plans for the 2023/2024 pilgrimage is in progress; we submitted our proposal to the governor, who graciously approved the proposal earlier; we were hoping to lift quite a number of pilgrims this year.
“But one of the challenges encountered was the issue of insecurity, when a state is facing such challenge it calls for the absolute attention of the government and that of anyone that cares about the safety of lives and property of its citizenry.
“So, in response to the challenges of insecurity faced by the state, our preparations were affected, what we were expecting from the government based on the scheduled date of payment, the date passed by, we couldn’t pay the overhead costs for the agreements.
“Initially, we were given the assurance that if we failed to pay the money before Jan. 31, the fare will be reviewed, and looking at the current exchange rates of dollars now, we know the fare will be reviewed; so this is the challenge that we have on ground.
“When that happens, looking at how the Naira is functioning today, I don’t think the government can give us more money because there is already paucity of funds in the first place,” he said.
Yusuf expressed faith in God’s guidance to prevail over the circumstance, noting that “indeed the reality on ground was tough.
“So we are now left with the decision to review it downward, we had initially proposed to airlift 600 pilgrims sponsored by the State government and then 170 sponsored by the local government; that is 10 for each LGA, the governor had approved 500 for us.
“But because of the delay in the payment of the overhead costs, if we are reviewing it downward, it means we have to reduce the number of the pilgrims, and this is a big challenge too because quite a number of people that could have been there will not be there.
“I don’t know how the schedule will be and I think a greater challenge still lies ahead, just like a mother who prepared her food for her five children Lo and behold eight children are present to eat the food, how will she share it?
“We have few forms to share to people, sometimes I just imagine how we can achieve this successfully? We are trusting that the Lord will help us, He will help us.
