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…Many may not visit Holy land this year as deadline expires
By Abubakar Yakubu
Some intending Hajj pilgrims, who had earlier paid the N4.9 million demanded by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for their Hajj fares in February and were in March given four days, before March 29, to pay an additional N1.9 million due to the foreign exchange rates hike at the time, are in a fix on how to raise the additional money as demanded by the commission.
It would be recalled that in a previously list of registered intending pilgrims released by NAHCON from across the 36 states of the federation, the FCT, and the Armed Forces, only 48,414 of the 95,000 pilgrims’ slot allocated to Nigeria had paid the previous N4.9 million.
Amina Sule, an intending pilgrim, said that she used all her life’s savings to pay for the exercise.
“Since I could raise N4.9 million and it is a requirement for a Muslim to perform Hajj, I paid the amount,” she said.
Another intending pilgrim, Abdullahi Garba, said that a friend paid for him to go for Hajj in February, and he does not know how to meet the person to pay the additional fare requested by NAHCON.
Ahmed Jibril, another pilgrim, said that the little money left after paying the N4.9 million was meant for his family to feed until he returns.
“We wish the Federal Government will come to our aid in this regard as they announced a final fee, which we paid, and they later added another one,” he lamented.
The plight of the intending pilgrims appears to be worrying the Independent Hajj Reporters, who in a press release issued on March 25 appealed to the federal and state governments to provide intervention funds to enable the pilgrims fulfill their religious desire.
The release which was signed by the organisation’s coordinator, Irahim Muhammed, warned that without such assistance, this year’s hajj would witness the lowest Nigerian contingent ever.
“As a civil society organisation with ears to the ground when it comes to hajj matters, we are sure that over 90 per cent of those who paid the initial deposit of N4.9 million cannot afford to raise additional N1.9 million within four days.
“It has, therefore, become imperative for us to call on the state governors and the Federal Government to come in and provide immediate succour to the pilgrims by providing additional payment as a form of subsidy,” the statement added.
However, succour appears to be coming the way of some pilgrims in few states such as Bauchi, where Governor Bala Mohammed has approved 50 per cent subsidy, representing N950,000 of the hajj fare increase, for each intending pilgrim in the state.
In a statement at the weekend, the governor said that considering the economic hardship afflicting the masses, he had approved the payment of half of the hajj fee recently increased.
On his part, Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf has also approved a subsidy of N500,000 for each of the intending pilgrims from the state.
The Director General, Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Lamin Dan Baffa, who disclosed this last week in Kano, said that the state government would pay N1.4 billion for the 2,096 registered pilgrims.
Similarly, the Kebbi State government has also promised to contribute N1 million as an intervention fund to each of the 2024 intending pilgrims.
State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Yakubu Ahmed, who stated this shortly after an emergency State Executive Council meeting chaired by the Deputy Governor, Umar Abubakar-Tafida, on Monday in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, said that out of the over 3,000 intending pilgrims from the state, the government would support each of them with N1 million, while each of the pilgrims is expected to complete the remaining balance of N900,000.
The case of Sokoto State is different as the state government is requesting an extension of the deadline for the payment of the additional N1.9 million by intending pilgrims for the 2024 hajj pilgrimage.
Chairman of the Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Aliyu Musa, who made the appeal, said that Governor Ahmed Aliyu had expressed interest in subsidising this year’s hajj expenses for intending pilgrims from Sokoto State, but is currently in Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj.
The request from Sokoto State government, as well as the slowness of other intending pilgrims to raise the additional amount may scuttle the planned Hajj programmes outlined by NAHCON to meet up with the deadline from Saudi Arabia.
NAHCON, while announcing the fare hike in a statement said: “It is widely acknowledged that Hajj preparation follows a strict timeline. As for the 2024 Hajj, the preparatory timeline released by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah began earlier than usual and it is expected to end before its normal timing.
“NAHCON endeavoured to adhere to the schedule outlined by the ministry. However, due to non-remittances of Hajj fare by those concerned necessitated adjustments, resulting in two date shifts with the final being the 12th of February, 2024.
“Recall that as of 31st December 2023, Naira was still at N897:00 to a Dollar at the banks. These shifts unfortunately pushed the Hajj fare collection deadline to fall after harmonisation of foreign exchange rates, presenting a new and significant challenge.”
The Independent Hajj Reporters have also raised an alarm that NAHCON is on the verge of missing out on the deadline of April 29, set by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to process visas for Nigerian registered pilgrims – as there will be no hajj without a visa.
The organisation said that it would take states’ Muslim pilgrim’s welfare boards a minimum of one week to make announcements in their various states for pilgrims to be aware of the new increase.
“Over 65 per cent of those who have registered for the 2024 Hajj are farmers and it will take an additional one week for those who have the means to be able to raise the N1.9 million increase announced by NAHCON.
“If the pilgrims were able to pay the additional increase, then states Muslim pilgrim’s boards will need a few days to transmit the collection to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the apex bank to begin the process of transferring the said sum to NAHCON’s International Bank Account Number (IBAN) in Saudi Arabia. It is only after this that payments can be made to Saudi based service providers,” the civil society organisation added.
They disclosed that with visa processing scheduled to close 35 days from now and the airlift of pilgrims billed to commence in 45 days, President Bola Tinubu should come to the rescue and provide the needed support without asking pilgrims to pay an additional increase for 2024 Hajj.
Other Islamic groups who spoke on the matter are the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), which warned Hajj operators not to charge intending pilgrims higher than the current exchange rate of between N1, 476.247 and N1, 480 per dollar.
Executive Director of MURIC, Prof Ishaq Akintola, in a statement, raised an alarm over the astronomical exchange rate being demanded by Hajj operators.
“MURIC has it on good authority that intending pilgrims are told to pay an exchange rate of N1,625 per dollar whereas the current official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate as of 24th March, 2024, was N1,476.247 (selling) and N1,477.247 (buying). Unconfirmed reports say CBN is actually selling to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators at N1, 300.
“Data from the Federal Government trading portal showed that as from Saturday, 23rd March, 2024, importers will be charged N1,448.386 per dollar for import duty. The new rate represents a 7.89 per cent reduction from the previous rate of N1, 572.507 per dollar.
“We find the rate given to intending Muslim pilgrims discriminatory, irrational and unjustifiable. We are, therefore, constrained to demand a reasonable reduction in the exchange rate to be paid by 2024 prospective pilgrims. Charges being demanded by Hajj operators must have a human face because Hajj exercise is not necessarily a commercial enterprise and those engaging in it must manifest the fear of Allah (taqwah),” the statement added.
Chairman, International Organisation of Tijaniyyah Brotherhood (IOTB), Abdullahi El-Okene, has also called for fair treatment to intending pilgrims by computing their payment based on the dollar rate that existed when they made their payment in February.
A former NAHCON national commissioner, Lanre Badmus, doused the hope of subsidy from the Federal Government when he told newsmen that the demand for subsidy from the government might not be feasible as Nigeria is a secular nation.
He advised intending pilgrims who can’t afford to pay the additional N1.9 million not to take loan, but to defer their pilgrimage desire till next year.
Commenting on the intending pilgrim’s right to sue NAHCON over the additional Hajj fare, Nnaemeka Ejiofor, a lawyer, said that since Nigeria is a secular state, the pilgrims will not win the case in court.
He said since government is giving out concessionary Hajj fares, it is a privilege and not a right of the pilgrim.
Reacting to the additional Hajj fare, NAHCON’s assistant director of public affairs, Fatima Sanda Usara, disclosed to our reporter that since 2018, government had not subsidised pilgrims’ fare for Hajj. She said what existed was concessionary Hajj fares, adding that pilgrims were paying according to official rates.
She said now that there are no more official rates, NAHCON sought help due to the instability in the dollar price.
“Everything had been paid for by the intending pilgrims and the dollar shot up. NAHCON sought help because of the abnormal situation and has done its best,” she added.
The spokesperson said that NAHCON is left with no alternative than to tell those who can pay the additional N1.9 million to do so before the deadline, while those who cannot should come and collect their deposits.
“It is not anybody’s fault as dollar globally is scarce and NAHCON has never been a parasite and has being running its affairs out of government funding,” she said.
Usara also disclosed that the commission will need support to scale through the difficult times.
