Shettima inaugurates new NAHCON board, tasks members on innovations in hajj operations

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has inaugurated the newly constituted board of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria
(NAHCON) with a call on the new management to introduce innovations in hajj operations in Nigeria.
Shettima said this during the inauguration of the new board at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday, urging members to
bring fresh perspectives to the operations of the commission.
He said serving on the NAHCON board is very important.
“Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. For you, beyond your appointment, it is a win-win situation because if you serve the
pilgrims well, almighty Allah will compensate you in the year after. So, it is more of a religious duty than an administrative
function,” he said.
Speaking further about the composition of the new board and the task ahead of them, Shettima said: “The president
deliberately picked people with diverse backgrounds and untainted by the past so that they can bring fresh perspectives and
innovations to hajj operations and also interrogate the management structure of the organisation and bring out the best from
the staff.
“As usual, you will encounter a lot of challenges but I will urge you to fuse into a single force and achieve our desired result.
I will urge you to wear your thinking caps and come up with robust solutions that will satisfy Nigerian pilgrims.
“It is a very tough assignment; this is the nature of pilgrimage. But I want you to have it at the back of your minds that you
are rendering service to God and humanity.”
The vice president, particularly, urged the new management to improve on the hajj savings scheme to boost the number of
pilgrims participating in the exercise across the country.
“There are states that have become success stories in the hajj savings scheme, and there is a need for greater advocacy
so that this scheme can be replicated across the country.”
He challenged the board to “engage our agents and operations partners to foster a longer-term relationship so that they
can make significant capital investment in operations in the holy land.”
Earlier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the new board, JalalArabi, thanked the president and vice president for
finding them worthy of service to the nation through the NAHCON board.
He said given the importance of the task ahead of them, the new board would work as a team to improve hajj operations in
Nigeria, assuring pilgrims would get value for their money.
The NAHCON boss said his team has already commenced work with a visit to SaudiArabia to inspect facilities ahead of
the forthcoming operations.
The newly constituted board comprises Aliu Abdulrazaq (commissioner, Policy, Personnel and Finance),Anofi Elegushi
(commissioner, Operations) and Abubakar Yagawal (commissioner, Planning and Research).