THE Hajj Institute of Nigeria (HIN), established by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), will begin the 2023/2024 academic session on Tuesday, February 7, at the Hajj House, Abuja, with the first set of students.
NAHCON Assistant Director, Information and Publications, Mousa Ubandawaki, said the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, will declare the institute open and administer the matriculation oath on the students while the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Musa Bello, will be special guest of honour.
According to Ubandawaki, the institute will begin with a four-week certificate programme for members of the NAHCON board on ‘Strategic Management of Hajj and Umrah Operations’.
The NAHCON chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, expressed delight at the takeoff of the institution and urged all stakeholders to work together to uplift the institute.
“We hasten to congratulate all our stakeholders on the feat we have been able to achieve. We cannot lay claim to have solely achieved this. As such, we recognise the contributions of the past board.
“I, therefore, want to implore all the stakeholders to work together as build-up partners to uplift this institution to the highest pedestal even as we shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the sense of esteem of future hajj managers are uncompromisingly preserved,” Hassan said.
The HIN is one of the headlight agenda of the current NAHCON board with the vision to build professional hajj managers to administer hajj in the future.
The idea to establish a hajj institute is contained in NAHCON Establishment Act 2006 and was on the front burner of successive boards of the commission.
It, however, witnessed a more rapid pursuit in 2020 when the hajj body obtained the provisional approval of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to establish the institution.
