Governor Umar Bago of Niger State says NAHCON should act as a regulator rather than managing the entire Hajj.
Governor Umar Bago of Niger State has declared his intention to lead the effort to abolish the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), a federal government agency responsible for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Bago made this declaration during an interview with journalists in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
In a video posted on social media, the governor stated that he would lead a campaign to dissolve the agency, arguing that the federal body should act as a regulator rather than managing the entire Hajj.
"As a state governor, I want to lead a committee of the governors and the NGF to scrap NAHCON. NAHCON is not helping matters.
"The federal government is too big to be worried about Hajj problems. This is a local government issue, not a state one. State governments should be able to organise pilgrimages and engage agents from the private sector who can manage this more effectively, as other countries do. The government has no business in doing this," he said.
Mr Bago's criticism appears to have stemmed from the shortage of space in the VIP section where he and others stayed in Muna.
According to the governor, some of the VIPs were "embarrassed" by the lack of sufficient tents.
"Can you imagine governors of Nigeria, the Speaker of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, paying to NAHCON and having no place to sleep and being embarrassed? People will say it is because governors have been affected. Yes, they have been affected, but it is good that we are affected, and this is the time for us to change the narrative," he said in the video.
Mr Bago's position aligns with one of the recommendations of the Oronsaye Report, which recommended the scrapping of NAHCON and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrimage Commission (NCPC).
Contention between states and FG over Hajj operations.
There has always been contention between NAHCON and state governors over the management of Hajj operations. Governors believe that their welfare boards should be in charge of organising Hajj, with NAHCON limited to a regulatory role.
Under the current arrangement, NAHCON is responsible for the feeding and accommodation of pilgrims in Medina; state boards take care of their pilgrims in Mecca, while Saudi-authorised vendors manage feeding and accommodation in Muna.
NAHCON also oversees the operation of Nigerian clinics in Medina, Mecca, and Muna.
Decentralisation of operations
Mr Bago argued that there is a need to decentralise Hajj operations and relieve NAHCON of some responsibilities.
"We have failed and continue to fail. NAHCON is supposed to be a regulator, not an operator, but it has continued to act as an operator and has, therefore, failed pilgrims.
"Can you imagine that feeding, accommodation in Medina, tents in Muna, transportation, and healthcare workers are all managed by NAHCON? No other country in the world does this," the governor said.
Mr Bago said he would have done better managing the feeding of his state pilgrims.
"NAHCON has no business chartering flights; it is not their responsibility to feed the pilgrims. For example, I am from Niger State. If you allow me to feed pilgrims, I will be able to transport food that people are locally used to to Saudi Arabia to feed my own pilgrims.
"I will be able to get a kitchen that will prepare food familiar to my pilgrims, rather than giving them a slice of bread or a boiled egg, leaving them starving. We have different cultures; you cannot force Arabian cuisine on our people, and that is why they are falling ill," he said.
Feeding was also a major challenge during the 2023 Hajj, however, NAHCON blamed the Saudi government for the "food crisis", stating that it was due to the policy of the Saudi authorities.
Failure despite N90 billion subsidy
Mr Bago also questioned utilising the N90 billion federal government's intervention fund for the 2024 Hajj, suggesting that the fund could have served other purposes, such as education.
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The government-subsidised the 2024 Hajj with N90 billion following the increase in Hajj fees occasioned by the devaluation of the naira.
"Imagine sharing this money with the 36 states. Some states also paid subsidies. In Niger State, I paid N3 billion. That N90 billion is enough to fund UBEC for four years. So, we can't be handing our resources to people. Some people paid N8 million for this operation and received just $400. This is ridiculous," he stated.
PREMIUM TIMES sent a message to the spokesperson of NAHCON, Fatima Sanda-Usara, for reaction, however, she had not responded at the time of filing this report.
Mr Bago is the second Nigerian governor to criticise NAHCON's handling of the 2024 Hajj operations.
A few days ago, the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, raised similar concerns and called for the decentralisation of the commission's operations.
