The National Coordinator of the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, Malam Ibrahim Muhammed, has cautioned the acting Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, Prof. Abdullahi Saleh Usman, to be cautious in making any promise about a possible reduction in the 2025 Hajj fares.
The coordinator, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that Usman, who was screened by the Senate on Tuesday and is currently awaiting confirmation to become substantive chairman, had, during a BBC News and DCL Hausa interview, “spoke impressively on various issues and his intention to address some wide-ranging operational matters as soon as he settles down in office,” including a promise to reduce Hajj fare.
He maintained that the acting chairman should not have delved into such an “administratively sensitive issue.” With such a statement, Usman is “toeing a familiar, but bitter path” like his predecessors.
Muhammed quoted the NAHCON boss to have said that “the commission is working round the clock to ensure there is a reduction in the amount intending pilgrims would pay for the 2025 Hajj operation.”
He recalled: “This is the same promise made by your immediate predecessors that eventually put their administration under media pressure because they hurriedly made an unrealistic promise even when they were yet to know the intricate details involved in Hajj fare computation.
“Sir, you have to be wary of the booby trap and ensure that you made adequate consultations before making pronouncements.
“When the former chairman of NAHCON, Barr Kunle Hassan’s administration, resumed in February 2020, Hajj fare was within N1.5 million naira. Hajj fare rose to within N2.5 to 2.9 million under his watch. Jalal Arabi assumed office; he met Hajj fare at N3 million but he presided over Hajj, where pilgrims paid a minimum of N6.5 million.
“Sir, the circumstances and factors that shut up Hajj fare under their watch can repeat itself and that is why you need to be more cautious when making public statements. Mistakes, especially the ones in the public domain, are costly and sometimes, somebody must pay either way.”
Muhammed maintained that the single determinant factor of Hajj fare in Nigeria is the exchange rate and NAHCON has no authority to influence the price of naira to a dollar at any point in time.
He added that another factor is the significant reduction in the cost of airfare or accommodation in Makkah and Madina “because the three components take the larger percentage of Hajj costs.”
“More disturbing is that the promise to reduce hajj fare comes less than 24 hours after the NAHCON spokesperson released a statement clarifying the position of the government on the exchange rate.
“The statement categorically stated that the government will not subsidise or grant concessionary exchange rates on (2025) Hajj fare,” he added.
While expressing confidence in the capacity and administrative profundity of the acting chairman to significantly reduce the cost of 2025 Hajj fare for intending pilgrims, the IHR leader advised him to learn from past experiences and allow the result of his actions to speak on behalf of NAHCON.
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