Promise to reduce hajj fare is a familiar but bitter path

BY IBRAHIM MUHAMMED

It was James Joyce who once said, “history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken”. Today, I woke up to listen to a BBC and DCL Hausa interview granted by the acting chairman/CEO of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Usman Saleh.

The acting chairman, who was screened yesterday and currently awaiting senate confirmation, impressively spoke on various issues and his intention to address some wide-ranging operational matters as soon as he settles down in office.

However, one administratively sensitive issue I didn’t expect the chairman to delve into at this time is the issue of hajj fare – a promise to reduce hajj fare. He told the BBC Hausa service which was aired earlier today that “the commission is working round the clock to ensure there is a reduction in the amount intending pilgrims would pay for the 2025 hajj operations”.

He said: “Firstly, this is not our hope, and this is not what we want to happen. There has not been any announcement that it will happen. What we are doing, and based on the advice we are given and getting, we are working to ensure that it (the fare) did not get there, and we are optimistic and hopeful it will not get there, God willing.

“Our hope is to even have a reduction from what was paid last year, and this is what we are working round the clock to achieve. And we are optimistic that we will achieve this with Allah’s help.”

This is the same promise made by your immediate predecessors that eventually put their administration under media pressure because they hurriedly made an unrealistic promise even when they were yet to know the intricate details involved in hajj fare computation. Sir, you have to be wary of the booby trap and ensure that you have made adequate consultations before making pronouncements.

When the former chairman of NAHCON Barr Kunle Hassan’s administration resumed in February 2020, hajj fare was within N1.5 million. Hajj fare rose to within N2.5 to N2.9 million under his watch. Jalal Arabi assumed office; he met hajj fare at N3 million but he presided over hajj where pilgrims paid a minimum of N6.5 million. Sir, the circumstances and factors that shot up hajj fare under their watch can repeat itself and that is why you need to be more cautious when making public statements. Mistakes, especially the ones in the public domain, are costly and sometimes, somebody must pay either way.

Sir, the single determinant factor of hajj fare in Nigeria is the exchange rate and NAHCON has no authority to influence the price of naira to a dollar at any point in time. There are times when the price of hajj service reduces and yet the cost of hajj fare rises beyond the previous year because the exchange rates consumed the reduction in hajj services.

Another factor that can reduce hajj fares is the significant reduction in the cost of airfare or accommodation in Makkah and Madina because the three components take the larger percentage of hajj costs. Has the chairman secured an assurance from Saudi-based service providers or the ministry of hajj and umrah that there will be a reduction in the cost of accommodation or feeding in Saudi Arabia? Has the acting chairman liaised with airliners about the possibility of reducing the airfare?

More disturbing is that the promise to reduce hajj fares comes less than 24 hours after the NAHCON spokesperson released a statement clarifying the position of the government on the exchange rate. The statement categorically stated that the government will not subsidise or grant concessionary exchange rates on hajj fare.

The sixth paragraph of the statement reads: “It was confirmed that for the 2025 Hajj, there will be no concessionary exchange rate from the government for Hajj fare payment for pilgrims whether under state or private Hajj operators.”

While I do not doubt the capacity and administrative profundity of the acting chairman to significantly reduce the cost of 2025 hajj fare for our dear pilgrims, I advise him to learn from past experiences and allow the result of his actions to speak on behalf of NAHCON.

Ibrahim Muhammed is the national coordinator of Independent Hajj Reporters