Ex-tour operators’ chief drums support for Hajj Savings Scheme

A former president of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON), Alhaji Abdulfatah Abdulmojeed, has called on hajj stakeholders to support the implementation of Hajj Savings Scheme (HSS) introduced by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

The scheme creates an avenue for intending Nigerian Muslim pilgrims, especially low-income earners, to save for hajj (pilgrimage to the holy lands of Makkah and Madina).

Jaiz Bank Plc and NAHCON had, in September 2020, signed a savings scheme agreement to make it easier for intending pilgrims to gradually plan and save through a long-saving platform for people who intend to go for hajj.

Abdulmojeed, in an interview with Daily Trust, said the scheme is the way to go in resolving the challenges associated with the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

The scheme, he said, makes hajj planning and operation seamless, and helps to determine the number of persons that would go on hajj pilgrimage every year.

Abdulmojeed, who is also the Managing Director of AlQibla International Service, said: “NAHCON, within the period of COVID, laid emphasis on Hajj

Savings Scheme. If, for instance, all the states had actually keyed in, it would then be first come, first served.

“And then they even have elements of figures of what to expect. That is what nations like Malaysia and Indonesia do. They can tell you these are the people performing hajj next year. So, the Hajj Saving Scheme, which NAHCON is spearheading, is a move in the right direction.

“NAHCON should be encouraged to lay more emphasis on the Hajj Savings Scheme because you have the data, you have the number of people who are almost very close to it and you can easily say if they give us this figure, these are the people who have fulfilled this condition.”