High fare slowing down 2017 Hajj registration, says NAHCON

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) yesterday urged intending pilgrims who have made initial deposits for the exercise to pay the balance, lamenting that registration by intending pilgrims is not encouraging following complaint about the fare .

NAHCON’s Commissioner in charge of Policy, Administration and Finance, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim, made the remark in Lagos during a meeting with stakeholders and the Ulama in the Southwest on the 2017 Hajj fare, reiterating that the commission explored many avenues to reduce the cost of 2017 Hajj fare, except that it had no control over the currency devaluation which had jacked up prices.

The 2017 Hajj fare had been fixed for over N1.5 million, much higher than the 2016 rate following the devaluation of the naira.

At the meeting attended by Hajj officials from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and the Armed Forces, Ibrahim said the 2017 Hajj fare would have been between N2 million and N2.5 million if not for the ingenuity of NAHCON which bypassed agents in negotiating accommodation in Makkah.

Expressing the regret that many intending pilgrims who had paid initial deposit were reluctant to pay the balance in the hope that the fare would be reduced, he asserted that government had no capacity to bring down the fare.

He said each of the items making the 2017 fare was arrived at after meticulous screening to get the cheapest and the best option for intending pilgrims.

He asked all intending pilgrims to pay up because “in the next 20, 25 days now, we are going to commence airlifting.”