WHY HAJJ FARE WILL REMAIN HIGH — EX-NAHCON BOSS, HASSAN

The immediate past chairman of the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, has said that Hajj fare will remain high and unaffordable as long as the value of the naira continues to depreciate.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Lagos during a reception hosted in his honor by the Companion, an organization of Muslim men in business and professions, the former chairman of NAHCON confirmed this.

Speaking at the event, which was attended by a number of dignitaries including Prof. Daud Noibi, Dr. Muiz Banire, Alhaji Kunle Sanni, Dr. Kalil Olukoya, and former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; President of Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN); and others, the former NAHCON head expressed his concern primarily about taming the high cost of Hajj, but he also noted that the current state of affairs would persist as long as there is a rise in the dollar to naira exchange rate.

On the challenges he faced as Chairman of the Hajj Commission, while in office, Alhaji Hassan, said Hajj was not a tea party “because it’s a movement of logistics and human beings.”

He said his concern and even that of the new management too remained the rising cost of Hajj but expressed confidence in the current management led by Alhaji Jalal Ahmad Arabi in “doing their very best to ensure that within the constraints, they are able to handle the situation successfully.”

“Hajj itself is not a tea party because it’s a movement of logistics and human beings. More importantly, the concern of myself and even I am sure the new management too is the rising cost of Hajj. And as long as we have problems with the Forex, the challenge of Hajj being affordable would remain.

“But still I trust the current management led by Alhaji Jalal Ahmad Arabi, I think they are doing their very best to ensure that within the constraints, they are able to handle the situation successfully,” he said.

Hassan, however, called on Nigerians to be patient over the current hardship, saying that they should remain resolute as a people.

The former NAHCON boss, while making the call, said the current economic situation was just like the COVID-19 problem “that we thought the world was going to collapse and yet we overcame it,” adding: “I don’t think there is anything that the human will not be able to overcome.

“I think we should just be resolute as a people, it’s just like COVID, it was just so much of a problem that we thought the world was going to collapse and yet we overcame it. I don’t think there is anything that the human will not be able to overcome.

“I want us to be very resolute and ask the government to do more and ask the people also to pray more, and I am sure that eventually we would overcome it,” he said.

Chairman of the occasion and President of Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Oladejo, recalled how former President Muhammadu Buhari summoned the MUSWEN leadership to the Villa to inform them about zoning the NAHCON Chairman’s slot to South-West, leading to Alhaji Hassan being nominated for the seat.

Oladejo said the former NAHCON boss served creditably well and did not disappoint the MUSWEN leadership that nominated him.

“He came to the job during the COVID-19 era and that is enough handicap. He surmounted the challenges and successfully organised two Hajj exercises,” he said.

Others who spoke at the reception included Ogbeni Aregbesola, who was also a former Minister of Interior; an elder statesman and foremost Islamic Studies’ Prof. Noibi, among others, hailed Hassan for leaving NAHCON a better place than he met it.

The Chairman of the Companion, Engr. Kamil Olalekan, said the Ummah was proud of the many achievements of the former NAHCON Chairman, saying Hassan performed creditably well and deserved commendation.

“NAHCON under his leadership will be remembered for partnering with NITDA to incorporate the use of ICT and digitalisation to bring efficiency to Hajj management. He took Hajj management to an enviable level,” he said.