Opinion
On Defending 2023 Hajj Anomalies
By ‘Yinka Raheem
After several appeals by some respected stakeholders in the Nigerian hajj industry, I had decided to turn a blind eye to the confusion and controversies that trailed the 2023 hajj – right from its nascent stage of exorbitant fares, arbitrary deduction of pilgrims BTA, commencement of inaugural flight with rescue operation, pilgrims protests in Lagos, non-payment of airlines, poor feeding and rickety accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, the unprecedented eyesore in Mina and Arafat services, discarding ‘first-in, first-out policy’ leading to pilgrims spending over 45 days in Saudi Arabia, among others.
However, I am constrained to intervene now because of some obvious calculated mischief being executed through a failed and amateurish attempt to defend the indefensible and give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
My attention was drawn to an article authored by one Abdulfatah Abdulsalam, entitled: “Hajj Airlift: The lies of a journalist,” published in some social media platforms. The author claims to be an ‘editor’ of a faith-based blog/magazine. The author painstakingly tried to attack one of Nigeria’s reputable newspapers – Daily Nigerian – for publishing an exclusive story: “2023 Hajj: NAHCON yet to pay airlines weeks after conclusion of airlift” published on August 17, 2023. The story was authored by one of the newspaper’s prolific editors, Ibrahim Ramalan.
Mr Abdulsalam – embellishing praise singing and barefaced lies with some religious garbs – laboriously tried to discredit the story, but woefully failed due to one single reason: the story is a fact and nothing but a fact. This is evident because two weeks after the story, NAHCON didn’t come out to deny that it had violated the 2023 airlift agreement it signed with hajj carriers by not paying them as scheduled.
The mercenary author didn’t dispute the fact that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has not yet paid the airlines that airlifted Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Hajj, four weeks after the end of the 2023 holy pilgrimage. This is an undeniable fact.
None of the five airlines — Max Air, Flynas, Air Peace, Aero Contractors and Azman Air — contracted by NAHCON to airlift 75,000 state pilgrims to 2023 hajj has come out to say they have been paid on schedule as agreed in the airlift MoU.
It is a fact that the airlines have completed inbound airlift on 31 July, 2023, when the last batch of Nigerian pilgrims returned home, officially ending the 2023 hajj operations, and today is September 1, 2023 – exactly one month after the end of hajj, and two weeks since the story was published – but NAHCON is still owing the airlines substantial amounts.
Mr Abdulsalam didn’t deny the existence of the 2023 Hajj Airlift Agreement, signed between NAHCON and the airlines. He also didn’t deny that NAHCON had grossly breached the contractual agreement.
Article 4.2 of the 2023 Hajj Airlift Agreement provides that NAHCON shall pay the air carriers 50% of the total agreed sum after signing of the airlift agreement and presentation of a bank guarantee.
The commission would pay another 35% upon completion of the outbound airlift to Saudi Arabia.
The article also provides that the airlines would be paid 10% after evacuation of 50% of inbound pilgrims back to Nigeria; while the remaining 5% would be paid to the airlines after reconciliation.
As Daily Nigerian accurately reported, quoting relevant sources, NAHCON has failed to meet its obligations one month after the completion of the hajj exercise.
In clear violation of the agreement, the commission only paid some of the airlines the second tranche after the commencement of the inbound journey.
The author didn’t also deny that NAHCON has blamed President Bola Tinubu (for its failure to transfer funds to CBN in time), even though the president was sworn-in five days after the commencement of 2023 hajj airlift.
It was a fact that thousands of pilgrims almost missed the 2023 hajj because of the delay in visa processing occasioned by NAHCON’s late remittance of funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN couldn’t remit the funds to the pilgrims’ agencies and tour operators’ bank accounts in Saudi Arabia for the payment of hajj services. It took the intervention of Vice President Kashim Shettima, who directed CBN to process the payment despite the late remittance by NAHCON. This is another irrefutable fact.
It was, however, surprising how the commission, while seeking for three-day extension from Saudi Arabian authorities, blamed President Tinubu for its gross failure to remit pilgrims funds to CBN in time.
In a letter dated 21 June, 2023, with Reference No: NAHCON/AN/43/, the commission blamed President Tinubu for causing the financial hiccups that marred 2023 operations.
Addressing Saudi’s Vice Minister of Hail and Umrah, Dr. Abdel Fattah Mishaat, in a letter titled “Request for Extension of Deadline,” NAHCON chairman Zikirullah Kunle Hassan specifically blamed Mr Tinubu for halting transfer of funds abroad.
The letter signed by Mr Hassan read, “There was a change of government in Nigeria and the new government directed a halt in transfer of government funds which caused serious delay in the transfer of funds into the International Bank Accounts (BAN) and this delayed our processing of pilgrims’ visa.” This is another fact.
It was also a fact that about 29,000 pilgrims from Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Niger, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states – who traveled to hajj through Flynas had asked NAHCON to refund the $100 deducted from their BTA ahead of the 2023 hajj.
The commission had deducted the BTA of the 75,000 pilgrims and shared it with the four local airlines – Max Air, Air Peace, Azman Air and Aero Contractors – that refused to sign the airlift agreement because of the Sudan conflict.
When the newspaper contacted the spokesperson of NAHCON, Mr Mousa Ubandawaki, he didn’t deny that NAHCON was owing the airlines. What he did was to explain the reasons for the delay in the payment to the airliners.
Mr Ubandawaki said the delay was a result of the discrepancy in the exchange rate. He said the exchange rate at the time the MoU was signed was around N400 to $1, adding that at the conclusion of the exercise, the exchange rate skyrocketed to about N700 to $1.
Fact is, Mr Ubandawaki’s excuses couldn’t hold water. There was no way the fluctuations in the Investors and Exporters Window would affect hajj operation. Mr President usually gives approval for exchange rate for the entire hajj transactions.
And since NAHCON has purportedly remitted the airlines’ funds to CBN in naira, the equivalent value in dollars (as per president’s exchange rate approval) would have been credited into its dollar account. Where are the fluctuations in the exchange rate? All hajj payments are made to CBN long before pilgrims airlift begins. Thereafter, NAHCON only pays its service providers, including airlines, from its funded dollar accounts.
The commission can only speak of exchange rate fluctuations if it did not fund its dollar accounts (by remitting all hajj funds paid to it by the state pilgrims boards) as demanded by law. This would be another breach that may require the attention of anti-graft agencies.
Insiders in the commission tell whoever cares to know that the Commissioner in charge of Policy, Personnel Management & Finance (PPMF) does what he likes and ignores the professional advice of his staff, while Mr Zikirullah remains helpless and can’t call him to order because they are birds of the same feathers.
It is childish to say the delay in payments by NAHCON was because it’s doing administrative due diligence. Let’s see this: the commission got the president’s approval for hajj exchange rate at least two weeks before it announced hajj fare on April 7, 2023. There is a solid two months between that time and the beginning of airlift on May 24, 2023. What was the commission doing in those two months?
Invariably, the way the commission conducted 2023 hajj exposed its administrative naivety. If at all they were afraid of exchange rate fluctuations, what they should simply do was go back to President Tinubu after May 29 and seek the revalidation of all approvals granted by his predecessor. That was not done. Rather, they blamed him for their gross ignorance.
It is on record that this is the first time in NAHCON’s history that the commission is still talking about the third tranche of airlines’ payment one month after the hajj was concluded. I stand to be corrected. This is also the first the commission is talking about foreign exchange differentials one month after hajj. Who is now going to shoulder the differentials? NAHCON or the federal government? This is totally avoidable if the NAHCON management knows its onions.
Like I said at the beginning, my intervention is precipitated by Mr Abdulsalam’s desperate attempt to deny what NAHCON didn’t deny, by callously trying to impeach the integrity of a professional journalist, by calling him a liar. Where is the lie? Who is lying between Mr Ubandawaki and Mr Abdulsalam? Why is Abdulsalam trying to shave NAHCON’s head in its absence?
Mr Abdulsalam is truly oblivious of the Qur’anic verses and Prophetic traditions that command us to say the truth notwithstanding whose ox is gored. A wholistic review of the 2023 hajj is underway. NAHCON ti n run, ko si iye ti ikede ti o le sọ òórùn àkóràn rẹ jẹ. (NAHCON stinks, no amount of propaganda can deodorise its infectious stench).
Mr Raheem can be reached at raheemy2050@gmail.com
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio on Saturday said the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended by the Senate for six months, traumatised him and others.
Akpabio had come under heavy criticism following the sanction handed out to the lawmaker.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, cautioned the Senate against making the political atmosphere toxic for women.
Major opposition parties in the country have also expressed outrage over the manner in which the complaint was handled.
But Akpabio maintained his innocence, saying none of what she alleged was true.
Speaking at an event to commemorate International Women’s Day, Akpabio raised concerns that he was merely her latest victim, saying previous allegations by Natasha had turned out to be false.
He said, ‘’It is only yesterday that I realised that what we are talking about only happened when there was a change of seat. That is when hell was let loose, and all sorts of allegations came up, only after the change of seat and change of committee, which my Senators know to happen from time to time.
“This is said to have happened on December 8, a day before my birthday, which was celebrated in the Stadium in 2023. So from the 8th of December 2023, I never heard, my wife never heard, no Nigerian ever heard, even the husband never heard any issue of sexual harassment until her committee was changed and then her seat was changed.
“Have you ever wondered about the trauma caused by that same woman on the other people she has accused in the past? None has been proven so far. Do you even wonder about the trauma this caused to the 10th Senate and the image of the Senate with all these useless allegations? I have refrained myself from making a statement.
“Look at these beautiful women. They have come across me so many times. Have I ever harassed any one of you? Or is the person thinking that you are not beautiful?”
By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice
The appointment of Dr. Fashagba Femi Paul as the Provost of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, is a masterstroke in academic leadership. With an impressive track record in academia, administration, and professional excellence, he is undoubtedly the right person to lead the institution into a new era of transformation. His wealth of experience and outstanding credentials make him well-suited for the task ahead, one that requires vision, strategic planning, and a relentless commitment to excellence.
Dr. Fashagba’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. Having served as the Director of the Academic Planning Unit at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, he demonstrated exceptional administrative acumen, successfully leading the accreditation and reaccreditation of over thirty academic programs—an achievement unmatched in the history of the institution. His tenure as Dean of Students’ Affairs further highlighted his ability to foster a student-friendly academic environment while ensuring discipline and quality education. In addition to his administrative competence, Dr. Fashagba is a well-respected scholar, researcher, and mentor, with numerous academic publications and conference presentations to his name. As a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and a distinguished member of the Chartered Institute of Finance and Control of Nigeria (CIFCN), he embodies the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.
Now at the helm of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, Dr. Fashagba must harness his expertise to drive meaningful reforms. The institution, like many teacher-training colleges in Nigeria, requires structural, academic, and administrative revitalization to remain competitive. One of the key areas of focus should be academic excellence and accreditation. Strengthening the college’s accreditation status by ensuring that all programs meet national and global standards is essential. A research-driven environment must be fostered, encouraging both lecturers and students to engage in innovative academic work. Additionally, modern pedagogical tools must be introduced to align with contemporary teacher education.
Beyond academics, institutional development and infrastructure must be prioritized. Improving physical facilities, including classrooms, hostels, and ICT centers, will significantly enhance the learning environment. Seeking partnerships with government and private sector stakeholders to attract funding and grants should also be a focal point. Establishing a robust e-learning system to complement conventional learning methods will further modernize the institution and expand its reach.
To build a well-rounded institution, the welfare of students and staff must also be taken into account. Policies that ensure a conducive learning and teaching environment should be implemented, while continuous professional development programs must be introduced for lecturers to keep them updated on modern teaching methodologies. Encouraging student participation in leadership, entrepreneurship, and community service programs will also help in shaping well-rounded graduates who are equipped to make meaningful contributions to society.
As an astute accountant, Dr. Fashagba is well-positioned to enhance financial management and transparency within the college. Prudent financial practices, revenue-generating initiatives, and reduced reliance on government subventions will be key to ensuring the financial stability of the institution. At the same time, fostering strong ties between the college and the local community will be instrumental in driving mutual growth. Building strategic alliances with education-based NGOs, international bodies, and government agencies will further enhance institutional development and open up new opportunities for students and faculty members.
The appointment of Dr. Fashagba Femi Paul is not just another administrative change—it is a call to action. The weight of expectation is enormous, and the demand for impact is immediate. As he takes over the reins, he must bring on board the right strategies, policies, and personnel to reposition the college for greatness. The people of Kogi State, the academic community, and the students of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, look forward to a progressive, transformative, and prosperous tenure. With his sterling credentials, vast experience, and stoic commitment to education, there is no doubt that Dr. Fashagba will leave an indelible mark on the institution. Now is the time to deliver, and the future starts today.
Perfectly musing
BY Musa Ilallah
For the people of Hadejia emirate in the present jigawa state, their hope and optimism remains high now more than ever before that their 42 year old struggle to get a state of their own will soon see the light of the day. The movement had so far submitted a request for the creation of Hadejia state in 1982, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2009, and 2021.
This optimism beams its light and hinges its hope for 2 reasons.
First came the opener when the Jigawa North East Senator, Ambassador Ahmad Abdulhamid Malam Madori on the 25th day of February 2025 sponsored a bill for an act to create Hadejia state out of Jigawa state on the floor of the senate.
The bill, which sought to alter the Constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria1999 (Cap.C23), is presently awaiting further legislative action.
Second, the House of Representatives committee on the review of the 1999 constitution opened it’s door wide open and allowed all interested applicant seeking new states to be created in their domains to submit their request on or before the 16th of March, 2025.
Taking this opportunity with all the seriousness it deserves, the steering committee led by a former Commissioner in the old Kano state, Alhaji Musa Shuaibu had an interaction with the Chairman of the national Constitution review Committee and also the Deputy Senate President, Distinguished Barau I. Jibrin, to press home the demand for the creation of Hadejia state and thereafter solicits his support for the noble cause.
Consequently, the Chair of the movement for the creation.of Hadejia state, Musa Shuaibu was at the National Assembly on Tuesday March 4th 2025 where he formally presented the demand.
Accompanied by Senator Malam Madori, 2 of the 3 members of the House of Representatives from the area, some members of the state House of assembly and some representatives of LGCs.
Also present were the Representatives of the State Governor, Naannabi Ahmad, Falakin Hadejia and Chairman of the state Civil service commission; Emir of Hadejia’s Representative and Galadiman Hadejia, Usman Abdulaziz, Representatives of 8 local government councils, representatives of State assembly members; members of the house of representatives, Dr Abubakar Fulata and Makki Yanleman; prominent sons and daughters and also some members of the steering committee of the movement led by elder Dr (Arch) Aminu Kano
According to Musa Shuaibu, in addition to the present 8 local government areas that make up the proposed state, the area has presently submitted request to expand the LGAs to more than 12. The present Senatorial zone has Hadejia, Kafin Hausa, Auyo, Kaugama, Malam Madori, Guri, Birniwa and Kiri Kasamna LGAs.
Some of the potentials that seem to work in favour of the demand for Hadejia state include an approximately 700, 000 hectares of total landmass of which 75% is arable for all year round farming.
Others include the economic viability, active and enterprising human resource, utilities and infrastructure, electricity via a 132 KVA, potable water, ethanol renewable energy resource, forests and wildlife. Others include industry and commerce, tourism and rich cultural heritage among others.
Formally receiving the request for the creation of Hadejia state, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Honourable Tajuddeen Abbas in his office, stated that he is 100% in support of the movement and gave an unflinching committment to get the aspiration through.
At the Senate, the Clerk to the Senate committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution, Innocent Mobere received the memorandum on behalf of the chairman and also promised to present the request to the whole house committee.
Meanwhile, Senator Ambassador Ahmad Malam Madori also during a 2day public hearing organised by the Senate committee on health on a bill to consider the creation of a Federal Medical Centre , Hadejia, had appealed to all and sundry to make the proposal a reality.
All eyes are.now on deck to see how fast the National Assembly will fast track the creation of more states and LGCs in the country for its growth and development.
Musa Ilallah, a public affairs analyst based in Abuja. He can be reached at musahk123@yahoo.com