The Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), a civil society organisation, has commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for selecting Mashariq Al Dhahabia, a Saudi-based service provider, for the 2025 hajj exercise.
In a statement on Sunday, Ibrahim Mohammed, the IHR national coordinator, said the decision would “create healthy competition” among service providers “interested in efficiently, qualitatively, and satisfactorily” serving Nigerian pilgrims.
Mohammed said Nigerian pilgrims always face serious hurdles in accessing quality services during the spiritual journey due to consistent shortcomings in service delivery.
The IHR national coordinator, currently in Saudi Arabia to monitor pre-hajj arrangements, revealed that Al Dhahabia is an experienced provider, having served top-rated countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia.
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He added that the company ranked among the top five service providers by the Saudi Arabia ministry of hajj and umrah.
“The company served 249,706, which is the largest number of hajj pilgrims during the 2023 hajj. They were awarded as the best hajj service providers during the 2022 hajj by the Saudi ministry of hajj and umrah,” Muhammad said.
“NAHCON is planning to recruit another service provider to provide services for VIP pilgrims so as not to repeat the experience of previous years, which is also a desired step forward.”
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The CSO urged NAHCON to establish performance parameters for newly selected service providers, based on pilgrim satisfaction and contractual adherence.
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