The Vice Chairman of the Forum, who is also the Executive Secretary of Kebbi State pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Faruku Musa Yaro Enabo expressed, after a post Arafah meeting of members, the Forum’s rejection of the idea of decentralisation of the Commission while fielding questions from journalists who covered the just concluded Hajj exercise in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He said apart from the suggestion was in bad taste, it was also retrogression counterproductive, as it would be a recipe for chaos, disorder and outright negation of uniformity and ease of handling Hajj affairs in Nigeria, for which NAHCON was established and symbolizes today.
The Vice Chairman said, each pilgrimage, year-in, year-out, comes with its peculiar challenges and hiccups, which are tackled and measures taken to mitigate and guard against re-occurrence, saying that it was ill-advised to suggest decentralization over an isolated incident which affected some select few wealthy, well-to-do individuals and or those in position of power, in total disregard to the improvements and achievements recorded during this year’s Hajj exercise compared to that of last year.
He further opined that rather than throwing the baby with the bathwater, NAHCON, should immediately, soundly and decisively step in to find out if there was any dereliction of responsibility by any private tour operator, which resulted to embarrassment caused the dignitaries accommodated in Tent A, with a view of taking disciplinary measures to serve as deterrent.
By and large, Alhaji Faruku Enabo said, it was sentimental and selfishness, to ignore the comfort, ease and seamless services almost all the over fifty thousand Nigerian pilgrims enjoyed this year from the airlift to the holy land, accommodation, feeding, transportation, in Madinah, Makkah, Mashã’ir, and other sundry services throughout the main Hajj exercise so far, praying for the return journey to be more successful.
It could be recalled that a Nigerian governor suggested that NAHCON should be decentralized, but the Forum of Chief Executives of State Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies, Commissions believes that no state has the capacity to conveniently deal with the Saudi Hajj authorities, as that would almost equates to the Saudis dealing with thirty six nations instead of a one Nigerian nation.