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N3m Hajj Fare: NAHCON To Charge 75,000 Pilgrims Additional $300
Barring any last minute change, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) will charge 75,000 intending pilgrims an additional $300 (N139,350).
This despite the ongoing furore generated by the N3 million hajj fare fixed by the commission for 2023 hajj.
Impeccable sources inside the commission said the $250 increment was part of the agreement reached between the hajj commission and the four Nigerian airlines that signed the airlift agreement on Tuesday.
Last Thursday, Max Air, Air Peace, Azman Air and Aero Contractors – all local airlines – had refused to sign the hajj airlift agreement with NAHCON because of the Sudan conflict which they said the closure of its airspace has extended their flight time to Saudi Arabia by more than two hours.
Only the Saudi Arabian-designated airline Flynas signed the agreement with NAHCON last week despite the Sudan conflict without seeking for any increment.
An official of the commission who spoke in confidence said $250 of the increment goes to the local airlines, while $50 was added by NAHCON as an oversight component Saudi charge the NAHCON “forgot” to add during the hajj fare computation.
Sources told this newspaper that NAHCON will write a memo to seek President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval on the increment before announcing it to the public. This memo could be misleading, said the insider.
The NAHCON leadership, it was gathered, has a Plan B in the event President Buhari declines to approve the increment. The management, it was learned, will deduct the $300 from the $800 Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) of the pilgrims.
A veteran hajj administrator who spoke in confidence said, the NAHCON leadership is trying “to use the backdoor channel to manipulate President Buhari to pay up the $22.5 million increment ($300 x 75,000 pilgrims). This will mark a sad return to the old days where federal government funded hajj..”
The hajj fare was N1.4 million when Barrister Zikirullah Kunle Hassan-led NAHCON board was appointed in 2019. But despite the new board’s repeated vows of “reducing” the fare in 2020 and 2021, Mr Hassan- led management only succeeded in jerking up the hajj fare from N1.4 million to N2.5 million in 2022, and now over N3 million in 2023.
By this $300 increment, Nigerian pilgrims will be made to pay N3.139 million each, while those in the Southwestern states will pay N3.339 million each.
However, insiders said the executive secretaries of the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards and Agencies have unanimously rejected the latest planned increment during their marathon meeting with the commission officials in Abuja that lasted from morning to night on Wednesday.
It will be recalled that NAHCON had fixed N3 million as the average hajj fare for this year, but some states in the Southwest charged as much as N3.2 million. NAHCON has so far failed to force the states to trim the fare down to N3 million.
Last Thursday when NAHCON signed the agreement with Flynas, Mr Zikirullah said the commission was not contemplating increasing the hajj fare because of the Sudanese conflict.
It was not clear why the commission reneged on its promise and now plans to slam the $300 increment on the cash-squeezed intending pilgrims.
Insiders are wondering how NAHCON will charge the $300 increment from the pilgrims. The hajj commission has allocated 28,515 pilgrims to Flynas, 16,326 to Max Air, 11,348 to Air Peace, 8,660 pilgrims to Azman Air, and 7,833 to Aero Contractors.
“It remains to be seen how the commission will deal with this matter,” an insider said. He explained that, “It was on record that Flynas didn’t seek any increase on its flight ticket fare. Is NAHCON still going ahead to additionally charge Flynas’ 28,515 pilgrims even though the airline didn’t ask for an increment? Or, is NAHCON going to charge only the intending pilgrims from states allocated to the four Nigerian airlines?”
Findings by this newspaper on Thursday revealed that an average return ticket from Abuja to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia through Egypt Air cost N887,502; while the same return ticket cost N538,841 on Ethiopian Airlines.
The air ticket component of the hajj fare for northern states was pegged at $1,780 (N826, 810 at 464.5 official exchange rate). While the southern states pay $1, 950 (N898,000).
With the $250 increment now, the flight ticket will rise to $2,030 (N942,935) for northern pilgrims, and $2,200 (N1,021,900) for southern pilgrims.
Aviation experts told this newspaper that this makes Nigerian hajj flight tickets one of the most expensive in the world.
This is clear from the way it surpassed the return ticket being charged by Ethiopian Air (N538,841); and Egypt Air’s N887,502 to Jeddah and Madinah.
This is telling because the two commercial airlines are equally spending almost 7 hours flight time to Jeddah/ Madinah from Nigeria due to the Sudan conflict which is the raison d’êtrefor the $250 hike.
Findings also revealed that the Nigeria’s air ticket component is far higher than those of other hajj participating countries, including our regional neighbors.
Investigations have shown that the latest air ticket increment is the second in recent two years operations by the incumbent NAHCON leadership.
An industry player who spoke to this newspaper over the issue said, “Barrister Hassan’s NAHCON board has carved a niche for itself in jerking up air fares for no reason.
“It was on record that the immediate past NAHCON board met air fares at $1,800 for the South and $1,750 for the North. But the board brought it down to $1,500,” the aviation expert conversant with hajj operations said.
The expert said the previous NAHCON board worked assiduously to reduce the prices of services without compromising their quality. “It was the same previous NAHCON board that created the special rates for Yola and Maiduguri departure centres because of their shorter proximity to Jeddah and Madinah,” he said.
He lamented that “instead of maintaining what they met on ground, they keep on skyrocketing the prices.
Some intending pilgrims have expressed their dismay over this planned increment. “They want to deprive us from going to hajj like they did last year. I am battling to complete the N3m fare and now this,” Malama Yasmeen has said.
Mr Isiaka Gbadebo and Malam Zaiyanu Muhammad – all intending pilgrims said the increment is in bad light and aimed at
disenfranchising them from performing the Islam’s fifth pillar.
“I have surrendered to God. Only Him can salvage me from this calamity. I don’t know how to source this additional $300,” Mr Gbadebo said.
On his part, Malam Muhammadu said, “ I am shock. I hope this increment is not real. My planned trip for hajj is in jeopardy.”
The Saudi Arabian authorities have allocated 95,000 slots to Nigeria for 2023 hajj. A total of 75,000 pilgrims will go through the states, while the remaining 20,000 will go through private tour operators.
The Association of Scavengers, Scrap Dealers, and Recyclers, Abuja, has publicly dissociated itself from a Federal High Court suit filed by unregistered scavengers and beggars against the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the association’s chairman, Mallam Muntari Mohammed, clarified that the group is a duly registered body, with members holding valid identity cards and engaging in legitimate waste management, scrap trading, and recycling businesses.
He stressed that the association has always complied with the FCT Administration’s rules and regulations, maintaining a clean record.
Muntari noted that the association had formally written to the Department of State Services (DSS) and other relevant agencies to affirm its commitment to safeguarding critical infrastructure and adhering to stipulated guidelines.
He distanced the group from unregistered scavengers, whom he accused of tarnishing the reputation of legitimate operators through theft and other illicit activities.
The chairman addressed the FCT Minister’s recent ban on scavenging, which stemmed from misunderstandings about the distinction between honest scavengers and rogue elements.
“We have never confronted the FCT authorities and will never do so,” Muntari said, emphatically dissociating the association from the court case against Wike.
The Vatican has confirmed that only one round of voting will take place this Wednesday afternoon as the conclave to elect the next pope officially gets underway.
Cardinals from around the world gathered earlier Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel, where they took a sacred oath of secrecy before the chapel doors were ceremonially closed with the Latin phrase “extra omnes,” meaning “everyone out.” The papal master of ceremonies then declared the start of the conclave, invoking a centuries-old tradition whose name comes from the Latin cum clave, meaning “locked with key.”
Wednesday’s solitary ballot marked the opening step in the process to choose the new leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. Should the vote prove inconclusive requiring a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope, cardinals will resume the process on Thursday, casting up to four ballots daily until consensus is reached.
Each cardinal votes by writing “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”) on a paper ballot, followed by the name of their chosen candidate. In a quiet and orderly procession, they approach the silver and gilded urn in order of seniority to place their ballots.
As the final vote is cast, the tension rises in St. Peter’s Square, where the faithful and millions watching around the globe await the first sign of smoke from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney. Black smoke will indicate that no decision has been made; white smoke will proclaim that a new pope has been elected.
The last two conclaves, in 2005 and 2013, ended on the second day, with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis elected after a series of swift ballots, respectively.
As the doors remain closed and Vatican cameras withdraw, the world waits in hushed anticipation for the next chapter in the history of the Catholic Church to be written.
Governor Hyacinth Alia will not honour the House of Representatives Committee invitation scheduled for Thursday, May 8.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Tersoo Kula, confirmed this to journalists on Wednesday in Makurdi.
The House had summoned the governors of Benue and Zamfara, alongside their Assembly leadership.
Kula stated that the invitation is unconstitutional and the governor will not comply with it.
He explained that Alia has filed a case at the Supreme Court challenging the lawmakers’ invitation.
“Yesterday, the Benue Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the Reps Committee invitation.
“They believe the invitation is based on ignorance and have decided not to attend. They will also challenge it in court,” he said.
Kula added that the governor, independently, has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the invitation’s legality.
He said: “Since the matter is in court, I will not speak further on it.”
Kula also claimed that the civil society group behind the petition is faceless and unregistered.
According to him, the address on the group’s letterhead is fake and lacks credibility.
He said there is a coordinated campaign of misinformation and sponsored protests aimed at destabilising Benue.
In recent weeks, he noted, there have been protests in Abuja allegedly representing Benue people’s concerns.
“These protests aim to provoke a state of emergency in Benue by portraying it in a negative light,” he said.
He claimed the organisers seek to undermine progress and return to a failed political order.
“Their ultimate goal is to create chaos for selfish political gain,” Kula added.
He accused the protest sponsors of trying to remove the governor through disruptive means.
“They will not succeed. Benue people stand firmly with their governor,” he said.
He assured the public that Benue remains peaceful and the government is functioning effectively.
“Governor Alia is committed to fulfilling his mandate and addressing the state’s challenges,” he said. (NAN)