To confirm its commencement of preparation for the upcoming 2024 Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has allocated 70,000 slots to the 36 states of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Armed Forces, out of which both Abia and Akwa Ibom states got zero allocation respectively.
The Chairman/CEO of the Commission, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunke Hassan, had on Tuesday informed chairmen and secretaries of state Muslim pilgrims welfare boards, agencies and commissions as well as member of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHOUN) at separate meetings that NAHCON had earnest commenced preparations for the next Hajj operations.
Hassan informed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had released its calendar for the 2024 Hajj, with issuance of visas to be closed by April 29, 2024, with the first batch of pilgrims expected to arrive in the Holy Land by May 9, 2024.
It was learnt that the allocation of slots to the states, FCT and Armed Forces was announced at the meeting with the state boards at the Hajj House in Abuja on Tuesday.
An approved list of the allocation seen by Tribune Online shows that while both Abia and Akwa Ibom have zero slots, other states have varying numbers of slots allocated to them.
The distribution of slots indicates that Adamawa has 2,488; Anambra (15); Bauchi (3,364); Bayelsa (58); Benue (231); Borno (2,691); Cross River (67); Delta (64); Ebonyi (50); Edo (412) and Ekiti (246).
While Enugu has 14 slots allocated to it, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa have 4,368; 2,506; 199 and 1,518 allocated to them respectively.
Kaduna States leads on the list with 6,004. Kano (5,934); Katsina (4,513); Kebbi (4,752); Kogi (691); Kwara (3,419); Lagos (3,517); Nasarawa (2,010); Niger (3,592.
Others are Ogun (1,191); Ondo (491); Osun (1,764); Oyo (1,386); Plateau (1,345); Rivers (34); Sokoto (4,996); Taraba (1,586); Yobe (1,960); Zamfara (2,996) and the Armed Forces (528).
It was learnt that like this year’s Hajj, Nigeria has 95,000 slots for the 2024 edition. While 70,000 was shared among the 36 states, FCT and the Armed Forces, 20,000 slots were given to private tour operators, while the remaining 5,000 is meant for officials and other stakeholders, including medical personnel, among others.
Meanwhile, NAHCON has warned private tour operators that it is going to up the bar for them with a view to enhancing their performance from the next Hajj operations.
The commission chairman handed down the warning at a separate meeting held with representatives of AHOUN on Tuesday, where the 2023 Hajj operation was reviewed and plans for the 2024 Hajj were unveiled.
Hassan said the 2024 Hajj was going to be expensive in view of the fact that the Federal Government had made it clear that it was not going to give any concessionary exchange rates.
While briefing journalists after the two separate meetings, Hassan informed that intending pilgrims should make a minimum deposit of N4.5 million, declaring that should the exchange rate come down, the Hajj fares would be low, while it would be high if the current high rate continues.
According to Hassan, “Next Hajj is going to be expensive. We must prepare for this starting from today. Gone forever, it appears, is the age of concessionary rates.
“As we speak now, forex is at N740 to the US dollar. So if you multiply that with the dollars of last hajj, then imagine how many more millions you will need to add to the cost of Hajj in 2024. It is a fact that it is going to cost more.”
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