Reasons why Maiduguri, Yola pilgrims will pay lower fares to Hajj – NAHCON
Story from Haruna YUSUF
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has explained why it fixed different hajj fares for various states of the federation.
The Deputy Director of Information and Publication of NAHCON, Mousa Ubandawaki, made the clarification in a statement in Abuja.
He said for over two months, the commission had been working to ensure that the fare did not spiral out of the reach of average Nigerian Muslims, especially against the backdrop of the global economic crisis, bourgeoning inflation, and the depreciation of the naira against the dollar in the forex market.
According to Ubandawaki, since the announcement of the final hajj fare for Nigerian pilgrims by the NAHCON boss, Zikrullah Hassan, a varied limited number of people had been asking questions about why the pilgrims from the states of the federation would have to pay different fares from the same country.
READ ALSO: Inflation: 2023 Hajj pilgrims to pay N2.98 million each
“Thank goodness that the commission was able to keep the price below N3m against all these odds.
”At the inception of the screening of airlines for this year’s Hajj, the commission, through the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, was made aware that tickets for air travel, including the chartered flight that Hajj carriers charged, was influenced by the nautical mile the aircraft covers.
”It is the reason why the air ticket for Maiduguri and Yola departure is much lower than all the other northern states as well as southern Nigeria due to its proximity to Saudi Arabia.”
He said that while pilgrims from those two airports spent less than four hours to Saudi Arabia, those from other regions of the northern and southern states spent five or more hours to the same destination.
According to him, the other reason is the price and location of accommodation in Makkah.
He said it was a known fact that some states’ pilgrims’ welfare boards, with their large contingent, needed a more expansive house or building to accommodate some of their pilgrims while others may not need as much.
The deputy director stated that in sourcing for accommodation, the various states subscribed to accommodation that suited their needs and capacity.
He said under the NAHCON Act and policy as a regulator, its job was to ensure that the states complied with the benchmark and the standard of accommodation was commensurate with the fare charged.
Ubandawaki also said the other reason why the fare was different from state to state had to do with the local charges by the different state pilgrims such as administrative charges, uniforms and registration fees.
Ubandawaki, who acknowledged the sacrifice made by prospective pilgrims to fulfil the religious obligation, promised that the commission would continue to do everything to ensure that pilgrims got value for money.
Recall that the Commission’s Chairman, Zikirullah Kunle Hassan, on Friday 7th April 2023 said pilgrims flying from Yola and Maiduguri will pay N2,8000,000 while those flying from other northern states will pay N2,919,000.00 only.
The chairman also said the southern part of the country has six different costs for hajj.
He said pilgrims from Edo state will pay N2,968,000.00, while those from Ekiti and Ondo will pay N2,80,000.000.
While pilgrims travelling from Cross River will pay N2,943,000.00, those from Osun will pay N2,983,000.00 whereas pilgrims from Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states will pay N2,999,000.000.
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