Less than three weeks to the commencement of the airlift of Nigerian intending pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Saturday assured them that there will not be further changes in the fares paid.
NAHCON Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, gave the assurance at the opening of a one-day workshop organised by the commission in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah held at the conference hall of the Hajj House in Abuja.
The workshop, entitled: “Training and Capacity Building for pilgrims groups and Leaders in Hajj”, is part of the initiatives to train Nigerian Hajj managers on crowd control and management communication skills, information and awareness campaigns.
According to Hassan, despite the $250 increment imposed by the air carriers, NAHCON would not impose the extra cost on the pilgrims.
The increment, he informed, was due to the ongoing crisis in Sudan, leading to the closure of its airspace, adding that their consultations were ongoing to find a solution to this.
“It is true that the air carriers have increased the charges by $250 because of the closure of the Sudanese airspace. Though we are still consulting to find an avenue to address the increase.
“However, whatever decision that we may arrive at, won’t impact or require the pilgrims to pay additional charges,” the NAHCON boss said.
The chairman also expressed dismay at the additional $63 charges for camp and electronic applications in visa processing cost by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj contrary to what had earlier been agreed by the two parties, that there won’t be any extra cost at the pre-Hajj meeting.
“Though we have written to protest this and we are hoping for a positive response. Despite that, we have borne the cost without transferring the same to the pilgrim,” he added.
The chairman, however, prayed for a peaceful resolution of the Sudan crisis in order to save the lives of the innocent Sudanese and urged all feuding parties to stealth their swords in the interest of Islam, the innocent pilgrims and the country.
Meanwhile, while saying that the one-day workshop has the potential of impacting positively on the success of this year’s Hajj, Hassan urged participants to take the training seriously.
Sunday Tribune reports that the Sudanese crisis is the major reason the four Nigerian airlines approved for this year’s Hajj operations initially refused to sign an airlift agreement with NAHCON.
While the Nigerian airlines, Max Air; Peace Air; Aero Contractors and Azman Air Services, refused to sign the agreement on May 4, seeking further consultations before doing so, their Saudi counterpart, Fly Nas did not hesitate to sign the agreement.
But after top management of the airlines held further talks with NAHCON, they eventually signed on May 9 and hinged their initial reluctance to sign the agreement due to logistics and operational needs./ and not meant to exploit the crisis for business gains.
While saying that they were not unmindful of the pilgrims’ plight after they had paid their fares before the commencement of the Sudan crisis, the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, they won’t like anything to disrupt the portion halfway.
According to him, “We are constrained to take that decision because of logistics and operational needs. We won’t like anything that will disrupt operation halfway.”
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