Hajj 2023: Matters Arising, By Ibrahim Dan-Halilu

The 2023 Hajj operations have come and gone but not without the usual cacophony of critical voices envisaging a perfect exercise, which is a fantasy for any human activity on this planet. Nothing is perfect!

There are four key issues that featured prominently in most of the criticisms and observations by either the pilgrims or public commentators, which has led some people in the latter group to suggest the handover of the management of Hajj operations to the private sector.

Firstly, there is the case of hiccups regarding the airlift of pilgrims to and from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There were reported cases of flight delays and suspensions by some of the airline operators without communicating to the pilgrims. Many of the pilgrims were stranded in local airports and vicinities waiting to be airlifted. This had been the case with pilgrims from Lagos State who spent days at a temporary camp near Murtala Mohammed International Airport. They had to protest their condition before the airline responded to explain the reason for delays.

Secondly, there is a complaint about inadequate accommodation and feeding arrangements for Nigerian pilgrims in Muna where every pilgrim is expected to spend five nights before returning to Mecca for the final Hajj rite. About 52,000 Nigerian pilgrims had no accommodation in Muna which was both shocking and unbelievable.

Thirdly, is the issue of overcrowding at the second holy city -Madina – by Nigerian pilgrims which attracted the attention of the Saudi authorities with dire consequences of imposing penalty on the Nigerian government for airlifting more pilgrims than the spaces available for accommodating the pilgrims.

Finally, is the complaint largely from some State Pilgrims Welfare Boards or Agencies (SPWB/As) that faulted the composition of the medical team as over centralized to the detriment of the pilgrims many of whom could not access the health care facility set up by National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) either due to distance or inadequate personnel.

Lagos State Government through the head of its Hajj team made an appeal to NAHCON to decentralize the medical team to the Holy Land to improve efficiency and effective service delivery to the pilgrims in their respective residences during the Hajj period.

Much as I agree that all the concerns expressed are genuine and deserve to be addressed, it’s doubtful if handing over the Hajj operations to the private sector will be the solution. It may compound the issues beyond imagination because the few private sector operators involved in the exercise don’t have the capacity to handle all the components of the Hajj exercise.

The few private sector players involved in the Hajj and Umrah operations have not inspired confidence to galvanize both the Federal Government and the pilgrims to support the idea of entrusting them with the responsibility of managing Hajj operations. Nigeria is a country where citizens hold government responsible for almost everything, including their personal life.

I agree that there are specific responsibilities or services that can be transferred to the State Pilgrims Welfare Board or Agencies to enhance the conduct of a successful Hajj exercise. These include accommodation and feeding arrangements, medical care for the pilgrims, and selection of airline for the airlift of the pilgrims. The Commission can play its regulatory role of ensuring that both the states and private sector players have provided these services to their satisfaction of the pilgrims.

But I disagree with the suggestion to hand over the Hajj exercise to private sector players as the right solution to the problems highlighted by various commentators.  The first question to ask is, who are the private sector players in Nigeria that can handle the huge traffic of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, prepare their travel documents, and obtain Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for all the pilgrims? Do they have the capacity to handle all issues related to the management of the Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Would the so-called private sector bring air crafts from over sea for the airlift or still patronize the domestic operators whose fares are relative cheaper? Have those making this suggestion realized the cost implication of handing over the entire process to private sector operators? Can the intending pilgrims afford any additional cost as a result of change of facilitators?

I think we need to do first things first before embarking on a journey without destination or one that will end up sending our pilgrims to unknown destination. Thank God, the NAHCON is under the watchful eyes of many stake holders, including the state governments, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and above all the presidency and federal lawmakers who have an over sight on their activities.  The Commission can be held responsible for poor performance of its designated functions and disciplinary measures taken against its officials, but not so for the private sector.

My conviction is that none of the four issues raised are beyond addressing by the Commission and other critical stake holders, including state government, private hajj operators, and airlines.  After all most of the problems are self-inflicted by some of the stake holders who cut corners for their personal interest.

The problem of delays in airlifting pilgrims can be attributed to the failure of the regulatory authorities to enforce compliance with safety regulations for the airlines, and stand afoot to make sure no airline is granted airlift contract for the Nigerian pilgrims without clean bill of airworthiness for their aircrafts. Secondly, none should be allowed to bite more than it can chew because of greed. Thirdly, NAHCON must impose penalty on any airline that breaches the contract agreement.  I believe if these measures are adopted diligently, this issue will be nipped in the bud.

With regard to flight delays that are externally-driven, the regulator can minimize or eliminated them through early planning, and reducing the number of pilgrims that are flown into Madina to avoid overcrowding, which is one of the precipitating factors of such delays.  The Saudi Ministry for Hajj and Umarah has consistently delayed most return flights to Nigeria and other African countries to the last minute of the Hajj exercise for diplomatic and economic reasons. 

Most times pilgrims from the Gulf countries, Asia, and Europe are airlifted first before African pilgrims. Nigeria along with other African countries that have a large delegation of pilgrims can request for some concessions from the Saudi authorities so that the delay can be reduced to the barest minimum, if not totally eliminated.

Alternatively, the Nigerian Embassy in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) should explore areas of competitive advantage for our pilgrims to take advantage of the delays and transact business by exporting some commodities that are in greater demand in KSA. After all the original mission of the Hajj exercise is to promote both the spiritual and economic wellbeing of the pilgrims.

The SPWB/As too have greater role to play in reducing the delay in airlift of pilgrims by making early preparations for their pilgrims so that they can meet up with the targets set by the regulator.  All issues related to the Hajj operations such as passport and visa processing, immunizations, and Basic Travel Allowance should be treated with utmost dexterity to prevent last minute rush to airlift the pilgrims.

It’s heartwarming to note that the NAHCON has already taken up the burning issue of poor accommodation arrangement for Nigerian pilgrims in Mina with both the firm contracted for the job and the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Affairs. Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, the Chairman of NAHCON who expressed his anger over the unfortunate development, said Nigeria will consider the termination of the contract with Mutawwif and also demand a refund.

“Nigerian pilgrims were subjected to untold hardship and they are so disappointed in us even though we have repeatedly told them that the issues of tents and food are not in our hands, that we can only complain to the authorities,” he said.

Mr Hassan said the Saudis must hand off feeding of pilgrims because they lack the capacity.

“Time has come for you to hand off our food. We have argued repeatedly that we can handle catering by ourselves and you can regulate. This is because no matter how much money you spend on food, if you don’t do it the Nigerian way, it will not be eaten and the money is wasted. I am making this demand on behalf of Nigerian pilgrims and stakeholders.

“I am also, on behalf of the Nigerian delegation, demanding a refund for the foods that you didn’t supply.

“We will be writing a letter of request for a refund to you because the food didn’t meet our requirements and standard at all. As we go home, we will have to review our agreement with a view to knowing if we are continuing with this partnership or not because if our people are not happy, there will be no point continuing on this,” he said.

To address the problem, Mr Hassan demanded that Nigeria should be allocated a different place that is large enough to accommodate pilgrims.

“We want to be removed from the present site of tents. Now that we have been told about the fact that the first country to finish registration and documentation will be able to choose the best section of Mina, me and my team will work on ensuring that we start on time so we can choose the best place for our people next year.

“We must examine the tent a month before the arrival of our pilgrims so we can make necessary adjustments. Before now, you give us a few days or a few hours to vet the place you are keeping for our people which is not good enough.

“Return feeding to us. We can manage that ourselves. We can screen the caterer and ensure they have Nigerian touch. The foods you have been giving us have no Nigerian touch at all. Return the food to us and you can regulate it. We are controlling and regulating feeding in Makkah and Madinah,” he said.

It would appear that Mutawiff, the firm responsible for arranging accommodation and feeding for pilgrims from Africa and non-Arab countries had underestimated the large number of pilgrims from Nigeria as it reserved only 43,000 spaces which was the number of pilgrims from Nigeria during the 2022 Hajj. The regulator must investigate what led to this gross under estimation of the number of Nigerian pilgrims for 2023 Hajj. Is it an error or deliberate action to sabotage the exercise? The regulator also needs to follow up with a formal letter for a refund for the 52,000 pilgrims who were denied accommodation and adequate feeding, if it has not done so already.

It’s noteworthy that NAHCON has already made a decision to cut the duration of stay in Medina to five days for Nigerian pilgrims to avert overcrowding in the second holy city.  The Deputy Director of Information and Publications at NAHCON headquarters, Abuja, Alhaji Mousa Ubandawaki, disclosed this in a statement. He said the new policy becomes imperative following the complaint of overcrowding of Nigerian pilgrims in the City of Madina.

“As tough a decision this may seem, we felt it is a necessary action we need to take, so that we won’t be at the receiving end of Saudi laws and at the same time, it was considered more utilitarian for Nigerian pilgrims to spend five days in Madina thereby allowing more pilgrims to travel to Madina in the first phase from where they would be moved to Makkah to continue with their Hajj rites, than to delay their departure for wants of bed spaces in the Prophet’s city,” the NAHCON spokesperson explained.

This writer supports the idea of decentralizing the medical team to give every state the power to constitute its medical teams and set up health facilities that are closer to the residences of their pilgrims so as to reduce pressure on major medical infrastructure established by NAHCON. This is without prejudice to the power of NAHCON to regulate the process of recruiting the health care personnel and quality of medicine and equipment mobilized for the exercise.

The idea of taking over the responsibility for managing the Hajj operations from NAHCON and handing it over to private investors is not totally wrong but it’s not one whose time has come because Nigerian doesn’t have strong private sector players that can handle it better. We must make do with what we have at the moment while making deliberate effort to migrate the responsibility to the private sector by putting in place both legal and structural frameworks that fits our purpose.

Secondly, the SPWB/As need to have a rethink about the purpose of establishing them, which is to promote the interest of their pilgrims. The persistent cases of registering pregnant women and extremely sick persons must stop! So also the nefarious tradition of sponsoring of people with no adequate medical skills or good knowledge and understanding of Hajj rites to serve as medical personnel or guide needs to be checked. It’s detrimental the interest of pilgrims who needed both service to enjoy their stay and participate in the Hajj rites with less stress. It’s also ungodly!

One would rather that NAHCON be registered as a limited liability company like NNPC.. This may put the Commission in a better stead to raise capital for its services and charge pilgrims for every service they provide either at home or while in Saudi Arabia.  The Commission may outsource some of the services to private firms who have expertise in those areas. That will also give the Commission as edge to diversify its investment into other sectors like property, airline, and consular services like the Malaysian Tabung Haji.

Under this regime, the Hajj Savings Scheme will sail through without or with limited resistance from the State Pilgrims Welfare Board or Agencies or that feel they have been shortchanged by NAHCON.

Despite the lapses identified with 2023 Hajj operations, it’s still a better deal for the Nigerian pilgrims. According to NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Zikirullah Kunle Hassan, “for the first time in nearly a decade all 95,000 Nigerian pilgrims who have valid travel visa performed Hajj in 2023.”

Alhaji Hassan rightly pointed out that as human beings, you can’t eliminate challenges. What you try to do is minimize them. That’s exactly what NAHCON has done throughout the 2023 Hajj operations. It’s performance was better than 2022 when over 7000 pilgrims were left behind, and could not perform the Hajj.

Ibrahim Dan-Halilu is an Abuja based Media Consultant and Public Commentator on National Issues. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or mobile phone number 08101064449 (Text or audio messages ONLY).