The Chairman of the Forum and also Executive Secretary of Nasarawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Idris Ahmad Almakura, disclosed this in an interactive session with Nigerian journalists that covered the just concluded annual religious event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He enumerated the achievements of the Commission this year to include, but not limited to completion of VISAS for pilgrims, weeks before the inaugural flight of the pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi, all Nigerian pilgrims first visited Madinah and spent equal number of days before moving to Makkah for the Hajj rites and afterwards straight movement back home without any second leg to Madinah.
The Chairman commended NAHCON over accommodation, feeding, transportation and other logistics that ensured a smooth sail and comfort to pilgrims at every point of their stay during the entire Hajj exercise.
Alhaji Idris Almakura however, appreciated that there were some minor hitches, like temporary shortage of bed space for some pilgrims, and non irritating infiltration of unofficially recognised pilgrims at the Mashã’ir, which were promptly and decisively tackled and solved to the satisfaction of all.
He advised NAHCON to engage service providers, particularly Mu’assasah to review the security arrangements at the Mashã’ir, religious sites – Muna, Arafah and Muzdalifah – for possible improvement in subsequent Hajj operations.
Alhaji Idris Almakura pledged the Forum’s full support and cooperation to NAHCON in her efforts to take Hajj operation ecosystem in Nigeria to greater heights to become a role model for others to copy.