Last Wednesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the newly constituted board of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) with a call on the new management to introduce innovations in hajj operations in Nigeria.

Speaking during the inauguration of the new board at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Vice President urged members to synergize and bring fresh perspectives to the operations of the commission.

According to Shettima, serving on the NAHCON board is very important given that “Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam.

“For you, beyond your appointment, it is a win-win situation because if you serve the pilgrims well, Allah (SWT) will compensate you in the hereafter. So, it is more of a religious duty than an administrative function,” the VP emphasized.

Speaking further about the composition of the new board and the task ahead of them, the VP said, “The president deliberately picked people with diverse backgrounds and untainted by the past so that they can bring fresh perspectives and innovations to Hajj operations in Nigeria and also interrogate the management structure of the organisation and bring out the best from the staff.

“As usual, you will encounter a lot of challenges but I will urge you to fuse into a single force and achieve our desired result. I will urge you to wear your thinking caps and come up with robust solutions that will satisfy Nigerian pilgrims.

“It is a very tough assignment; this is the nature of pilgrimage. But I want you to have it at the back of your minds that you are rendering service to God and humanity,” he added.

The Vice President particularly urged the new management to improve on the Hajj Savings Scheme to boost the number of pilgrims participating in the exercise across the country.

His words: “There are states that have become success stories in the Hajj Savings Scheme, and there is a need for greater advocacy so that this scheme can be replicated across the country.”

He further challenged the board to “engage our agents and operations partners to foster a longer-term relationship so that they can make significant capital investment in operations in the holy land.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the new board, Malam Jalal Arabi, thanked the President and Vice President for finding them worthy of service to the nation through the NAHCON board.

He said given the importance of the task ahead of them, the new board would work as a team to improve Hajj operations in Nigeria, assuring that pilgrims will get value for their money.

The NAHCON CEO said his team has already commenced work with a visit to Saudi Arabia to inspect facilities ahead of the forthcoming operations. The newly constituted board comprises Aliu Abdulrazaq (Commissioner, Policy, Personnel, & Finance); Prince Anofi Elegushi (Commissioner, Operations), and Professor Abubakar A. Yagawal (Commissioner, Planning, Research, Information, Statistics and Library Services).

The zonal and stakeholder representatives include Dr. Muhammad Umaru Ndagi — North Central; Abba Jato Kala — North East; Sheikh Muhammad Bin Othman — North West; Tajudeen Oladejo Abefe — South West; Aishat Obi Ahmed — South East; Zainab Musa — South South; Professor Musa Inuwa Fodio — Jama’atul Nasril Islam, and Professor Adedimaji Mahfouz Adebola — Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.

Also, present at the event were the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate; Ministers of Aviation, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, and Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

Meanwhile, the new board has also had its inaugural meeting held at Hajj House immediately after the inauguration at the Villa. Welcoming the team, Malam Arabi expressed confidence in members’ capabilities, while assuring them of the same level of cooperation from the staff as enjoyed by him when he assumed duty on acting capacity in the last four months. He called upon NAHCON’s dedicated staff to extend their similar support to their new bosses in the pursuit of the Commission’s goals.

In his closing remarks at the inaugural meeting, the Secretary of the Commission, Dr Abdullahi Rabi’u Kontagora, lauded the intellectual prowess of the new Board Members, describing them as a group with a good number of persons with diverse and advanced knowledge and experience as never witnessed in one single board of the Commission since inception.

He described the 5th Board of NAHCON as a new chapter of the Commission with its blend of experts starting with its head, Malam Jalal Arabi, from whom he had learned a lot of administrative skills within a short while. Dr Kontagora expressed optimism that their skills and knowledge would be deployed in the service of Allah, the federal government of Nigeria, and commitment to the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims.