Questions over Hajj subsidy

During a press briefing recently, organised by the Independent Hajj Reporters, a non-governmental organisation that monitors and reports Hajj activities in the country, a colleague in the pen profession raised a poser on what is called Hajj subsidy. It was difficult for him to comprehend my explanation on the subject matter. Frankly, the term, ‘subsidy’ has lost its expressive meaning in the Nigeria context. To many people, subsidy is synonymous with the corruption octopus. It is a deliberate creation of an avenue to siphon public funds under the pretext of cushioning financial effects on certain services for the less privileged. Subsidy, in its applicable meaning, is government payment intended to support a desirable enterprise or policy, usually one that is not viable or competitive under existing economic conditions.

Moreover, its abuse made people to question its desirability or otherwise. It is a fact that government at various levels subsidizes certain services for pilgrims; but whether such payment is intended for the benefit of recipients, either fully or in part, is a subject for another day.

Understandably, there are arguments as to whether it is right for government to pay subsidy to people going to perform their religious obligations -a personal affair, they reasoned. Hajj, as a fourth pillar of Islam, is an act of worship, made incumbent on all adult Muslims of sound mind with the necessary physical and financial capability. Going by the above, it is assumed that government has no business paying any form of subsidy to people going to perform Hajj.

However, we need to critically x-ray an ‘act of ibadah’ as stated above, and separate it from government’s administrative functions embedded in Hajj operations - that were factored into financial obligations for pilgrims. That might give us an understanding that the ‘subsidy being paid’ by government is not to help Muslims perform Hajj. It is rather an intervention needed as a result of various measures introduced by government to control and give comfort to pilgrims during their stay in the Holly Land.

Fundamentally, what gave birth to subsidy on Hajj started in 1961 when the Northern Nigerian Regional Government set up a high commission in January, 1961 to report and advise on the religious aspect of the pilgrimage and on the problems of destitute Nigerians in the Holy Land. The commission investigated the conditions laid down in Islam concerning Muslims’ obligations on the holy pilgrimage to Makkah, with attention to conditions affecting important groups such as the insane, the blind, the sick and the disabled, the very old, the very young, pregnant women and unaccompanied women.

The report of the committee indicates that the above categories suffer great hardship on the journey to Makkah, and that they constitute a grave social problem and does great damage to the prestige and image of Nigeria.

The committee further advised government to take charge of immigration control, and asserts that the enormous responsibilities involved in the transportation of thousands of pilgrims annually and the provision of welfare services could not remain entirely in the hands of private travel agencies.

The payment of subsidy on Hajj by federal and state governments becomes imperative in view of what I to call ‘administrative pay-as-you-are-served’ embedded in the total cost of hajj fare. Ordinarily, pilgrims’ basic requirement to perform Hajj could have been transportations to and fro, a place to put their heads and not necessary a mandatory standard accommodation. Pilgrims pay for their suitcases, which is made compulsory. There are administrative charges, payment for uniform to ease identification and grouping, payment for transportation in Saudi Arabia. Some pilgrims could have chosen to even travel by road if such option were made available. Because the system has set a standard for the pilgrims without alternative cheaper option, the cost of Hajj fare became unnecessarily high. These are the holes being filled by Hajj subsidy.

For example, the minimum fare paid by Nigerian pilgrims is N639, 000. How do you convince someone who pays such amount of money that government actually pays to assist him or her? Hajj policy makers should create an alternative option for pilgrims. Hajj should be made like travelling on a plane. Staying in first-class requires that you pay higher than those in business class, but the destination remains the same.

This will allow potential pilgrims to choose a package they can afford without government subsidy.

Muhammad is the national coordinator, Independent Hajj Reporters, Kaduna.