By Lukman Olabiyi
The Lagos State government has called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to decentralized its medical team to the Holy land.
Head of the Lagos State Hajj team, Prince Anofiu Elegushi made the call in a statement made available to journalists.
The state commended the commission for good administration of the 2023 Hajj operations but believes whittling down the power from the central medical team will ensure optimal performance during the period.
Prince Elegushi explained that the state through its pilgrims board has raised the bar in the administration of Hajj exercise and would love to collaborate with other critical stakeholders for more effective deliveries.
He said “So far so good we have been having a peaceful arrangement, although with little hitches, which is normal but so far we have been able to control crowd and resolve other issues regarding the pilgrims that came up and after all, we have been able to lifted over three thousand pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and for now, everything is okay for Lagos Pilgrims.
“NAHCON has done well, but the area I will like to talk about is the area of monopoly, I think they should reduce the power of the operation, there are some that state can do better for example the area of medical, although NAHCON is always prepared, but looking at the number of people that came from Nigeria, their facilities may be overwhelmed.”
“If we can have medical from the houses where pilgrims reside, it would reduce pressure on major medical infrastructure, they should at least release some powers to the State, I am sure, things will go well if they can do that” he said.
Elegushi however, reassured the pilgrims of better arrangements in the coming days.
In same vein, Elegushi’s deputy, Mr Abdullahi Jebe appreciated the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu for ensuring that the right persons are positioned to carry out the Hajj operations for Lagos Pilgrims.
Jebe disclosed that the last batch of Lagos State pilgrims for the 2023 holy pilgrimage have completed the visitation (Ziyarah) to some Islamic historical sites in the city of Madinah.
He said that the eleventh batch which consists of 171 pilgrims carried out the visitation between Thursday and Friday in fulfillment of the requirements for the performance of the spiritual exercise.