The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Hadeija, have called for reforms at the National Hajj Commission to tackle issues such as financial mismanagement, negligence, mistreatment of pilgrims, and delays in pilgrimage preparations.
Recall that the former NAHCON Chairman, Jalal Arabi, was sacked due to allegations of unauthorised withdrawals and mismanagement of the N90 billion 2024 Hajj intervention fund.
According to a statement on Wednesday, from the State House Media and Publicity Department, Presidency officials made these remarks during a fact-finding visit to NAHCON’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, as part of their oversight of government agencies under the State House.
Gbajabiamila said, “What happened has happened, and we are here to chart a way forward. It is time that the commission’s system is reformed so that it aligns with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Earlier, they also visited the National Emergency Management Agency, where Gbajabiamila suggested that states could play a role in funding the agency through insurance schemes or other methods.
In his remarks, Gbajabiamila stated, “This is a commission that should not be found in any controversy, simply because of its mandate and what it represents. It’s a religious commission. It’s a commission that is set up to fulfil religious and spiritual obligations for men and women of faith.
”So we are always surprised, even from the time when I was a Speaker when issues that should never come up, arise about this commission. Pilgrims travel every year to fulfil an Islamic religious obligation. Not only that, when they’re there, they’re there as ambassadors of Nigeria.
”As ambassadors of Nigeria, it is expected that they will carry the emblem and the flag of Nigeria on their full chest to represent, and to show both in demeanour and conduct who and what we are.”
Gbajabiamila expressed concern that Nigerian pilgrims often experience mistreatment or poor organization from the Commission, which sometimes leads to them not behaving as expected.
He stated, “But many times, our pilgrims and fellow Nigerians face maltreatment or lack of proper organisation from this commission, and they end up sometimes not conducting themselves the way they should.
”The buck stops at the table of the commission and you must accept responsibility for what goes on here and in Saudi Arabia when Nigerian pilgrims are there’ ”
On his part as contained in the statement, the Deputy Chief of Staff emphasized the need for early preparation for Hajj operations.
He stated, “Hajj is essentially a big-logistics operation. I was involved in the 2024 operation, and one of the key lessons learned is the need for early preparation.
”Nigeria has the largest quota of pilgrims from Africa, and we have countries whose quota is less than the number from a state in Nigeria.”
In his comments, NAHCON’s Executive Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management, and Finance, Malam Abdulrazak, urged for a complete overhaul of the commission’s accounting system and better federal character representation within the organization, according to the statement.
In a related development, during his visit to NEMA, the Chief of Staff emphasised the importance of transitioning disaster management in Nigeria from a reactive to a proactive approach.
The statement read in part, ”The mandate NEMA has is two-pronged: prevention of disaster and mitigation of disaster. However, it appears that we concentrate more on mitigation and leave the other side of the mandate, which is prevention.
”In turning the page, we must look more closely at the area of prevention because a lot of these disasters can be prevented.
”What is the role of the states? How do they come in? Do we tweak the law, and amend the legislation to be clear to the extent that perhaps the states form a model of insurance scheme, and pay into the purse in the form of counterpart funding?
”These disasters occur in the states. There’s no land called federal government and every disaster is local.”
