6 January 2009
Abuja — THE final airlift of Muslim pilgrims from Mecca and Medina was yesterday concluded with the return of the last batch of the pilgrims.
The last batch arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja at about 2am . With their arrival on Monday, this year airlifting has been concluded a day ahead of the January 6 deadline.
Commenting on their early arrival, some of the pilgrims were full of praises for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, the 2008 Amirul Hajj for overseeing the conduct of a hitch-free hajj.
Alhaji Abubakar Dondodaji from Sokoto State expressed happiness that the Speaker ensured that all their needs in the Holy land were promptly met without the usual problem associated with the exercise in the past.
He noted that airlifting of pilgrims back to Nigeria after hajj in the past often takes as long as two and half months but that owing to the committed efforts of Hon. Bankole, this years exercise ended in a record time of 33 days.
The Amirul Hajj had returned to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago to personally supervise the airlifting exercise of the pilgrims back home when it was discovered that Nigerians were experiencing undue delay because the only screening point for Nigerians pilgrims was under too much pressure.
It will be recalled that the outward airlifting to Saudi Arabia also recorded a feat as all 95,000 intending pilgrims were airlifted four days to the closure of Jeddah Airport . This is a record in 20 years of Hajj operation in the recent past.
However, the Amirul Hajj has called for a National Hajj Blueprint to tackle observable hitches particularly in the contract signed with Air Carriers to ensure future success.
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