TITLE OF THE PAPER: HAJJ REFORMS IN NIGERIA: AHUON POSITION
PREAMBLES
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaitan the accursed and I begin in Allah’s mighty name, the ever Gracious, the Ever Merciful.
Let us look at this paper from the following points of view.
These are very important so that we will understand why there is a need for reform and what should be our position as an organisation and as a stake holder in Hajj industry
We will like to point out that there will be a need for us to review hajj operations in general and especially the just concluded one of 2024. This will no doubt make it easier for us to know the areas where reforms are needed and the way to go about it.
1. Issues and challenges before the hajj
2. Issues and challenges during hajj period
3. Recommendations/ suggestions on reforms.
Let me begin by saying that the review of hajj 2024 is very important because we are part of the stakeholders. Nearly everyone in this room today partook in hajj 2024 and I am sure we all have different experiences/perspectives to share.
We will try as much as possible to be objective. We will give kudos where necessary and we will not be miser with word of advise / recommendation where it is important to do so
HAJJ BEFORE 2024
We are all aware that we face different challenges every year especially with respect to late preparation which in most cases is a Nigerian factor. Over the years, National Hajj commission of Nigeria known as NAHCON has always come up with hajj time table which in most cases has failed because of their inability to strictly follow the time table. We are all witnesses to what happened in the past where many of Nigerian pilgrims had to arrive Saudi Arabia after the closure of the border. Saudi has known us as habitual late comer as our regulator, NAHCON would always ask for extension.
With Hajj 2024, this has more or less become history because of the strict measure put in place by the Saudi government with respect to beginning of visa issuance and closure.
There was a concerted effort on the part of NAHCON and Tour operators to disseminate the information and things worked out positively for all.
For the first time in recent times of hajj operations in Nigeria, visas were issued like two months to departure. This no doubt deserves commendation and we do hope that all hands will be on deck to improve on this achievement.
This is not to say that there were no teething problems as there were few companies whose payments were not remitted on time into their IBAN account.
Let us now begin to take a look at challenges before hajj one by one
1. FOREX PROBLEM
There is no doubt about the fact that unstable rate of exchange nearly marred the performance of hajj in 2024. NAHCON was unsure of the rate to use due to daily fluctuations of the rate of exchange. This also affected the inability of many tour operators to come up with the cost of hajj on time. In fact, there were instances when some Tour operators were quoting hajj fares in dollar. At a point , tour operators were contemplating backing out of hajj 2024 due to its uncertainty. Alas, it was a success at the end of the day. We cannot but appreciate the effort of NAHCON and the Federal government for making this possible for majority of Tour operators.
The effort of the federal government to give a bailout fund of 90 billion to NAHCON to supplement the cost of hajj is no doubt commendable but suffice to say that the Tour operators did not in any way benefit from this. We do hope that we will be given consideration in the future if such opportunities come up again.
2. COLLABORATION
We are all aware of introduction of mega agents being the new policy of the ministry of hajj in Saudi Arabia.
This was a big challenge for Tour operators at the initial stage because the policy was new to all and Sundry. It was initially ten mega agent and this was later increased to 40.
The major challenge here was the criteria used by national hajj commission to arrive at 40 mega agents. This no doubt leaves much to be desired. In as much as we have some agents who are qualified, we also have some whose qualifications are questionable as part of the mega agents. My opinion though. There were instances of a few mega agents that did not meet the criteria set by NAHCON but still scaled through.
Over the years, AHUON has consistently canvassed that they should be part of the committee to screen the agents since we know ourselves but this was not considered in the last screening exercise. One of the reasons that led to the problem was the fact that the new management of NAHCON did not follow most of the criteria laid down by their predecessor. We believe that management is about continuity especially when the policy in question is good and faultless
We must however state that majority of our members performed wonderfully well with the merger despite some problems.
One of the areas we must emphasise in the future is blue print for collaboration. We prepared this at all the Zones but it was not fully implemented. Implementation of this will go a long way to solve any problem associated with merger.
3. FUNDING OF IBAN ACCOUNT
This is no doubt the fact this is a recurring problem over the years but a little bit better in 2024. It is better in the sense that majority of the Tour operators had their Iban account credited on time. A few had issues of getting their account credited on time and this created serious tension as the problem could not be resolved on time.
I can see two major factors responsible for this. One , many of our members did not remit their money as at when due. Many thought it will be business as usual. All hands must be on deck to put a stop to this. Two, many paid on time but could not get their account credited on time. For this category of people and for all of us , we recommend that there should be reconciliation between Tour operators and NAHCON before remittance in order to ensure that the correct amount of money is remitted.
Another challenge with respect to Iban account is our inability to fund our Iban account the way we used to do in the past. This affected a lot of Tour operators who had initially moved their money to Saudi in order to fund their account.
4. PROBLEMS WITH VISA ISSUANCE
We are all witnesses to what happened to many Tour operators with respect to issuance of visa due to introduction of camp system. For the first time in the history of hajj, visas could not be issued without camp confirmation. There were instances camps were confirmed and taken out of the system later, thereby making it impossible to issue visa. This is a very haphazard system and we really need to probe into this to prevent reoccurrence in the future. We had cases of people who paid for tent A and no correspondent camps to issue the visa
There is no doubt that the system keeps changing every year and tour operators are always at the receiving end
HAJJ FLIGHTS
Suffice to say that there was little or no problem with flight as regards hajj 2024.
Majority of the Tour operators from the South west and a few from the North made use of Scheduled flights like Qatar, Ethiopia Airline Turkish Airline etc.
However, majority from Kano and Abuja used Fly Adeel. The performance of Fly Adeel at the last Hajj is a resounding success according to those who flew the Airline.
It is in the light of this that we wil strongly recommend that fly Adeel and possibly Fly Nas be made the official Hajj flight s for Ahuon and it will be better if we start early negotiations with them.
CHALLENGES DURING HAJJ.
There is no doubt that Hajj comes with different challenges every year. There is a need to take a critical look at the operation of 2024 Hajj in order for us to know the areas of improvement and what is totally lacking.
1. TRANSPORTATION.
We make bold to say that there is no improvement in transportation systems as promised by the service providers. Most of the buses provided were rickety and the situation was worst for many VIP passengers.
2. TENT AT MINNA AND ARAFAT
For the past few years Tour operators have been restricted to Tent A and D unlike in the past when we had access to Tent C and B.
It will be recalled that we made effort to scout for other service providers for better services.
Our effort was thwarted by NAHCON as they insisted we must stay with Al Ithra company despite their terrible performance in the past.
For this year, it is a plus for the company that they performed better with respect to Tent D camp as there was enough space. Water and fruits were also in abundance. However, they can do more in the area of toilet facilities. We also make bold to say that nothing has changed with respect to the feeding system and the quality of food provided.
Ahuon needs to do something about this as it has been the same story over the years with no solution at sight.
However, the general feelings is that tent D this year is far better than what was obtainable in the past.
As for Tent A, the situation there is nothing to write home about as the space was not enough to accommodate pilgrims. The major problem we see here is from the service provider who connived with some Tour operators to buy the tent out of the system and paid more than the actual price therefore denying those who legitimately paid through the system access to the camp. This is no doubt a Shylock behaviour on the part of service providers and greediness cum selfishness on the part of Some Tour operators
From the above, you will all agree with me that there is a need to reform the hajj industry so that we can give best services to the guests of Allah and they can also have value for their money. It is in the light of this that we will like to propose and suggest the following as necessary reforms subject to the ratification of the National executive council
1. The first thing to be done is a thorough review and amendments to NAHCON act. It is a fact that NEC has worked on this in the past but it needs to be pursed to a meaningful and logical end. I will therefore like to suggest the below among others
A. For the composition of the commission, we strongly recommend that a representative from AHUON should be a member at any point in time and I want to propose that the incumbent president should always be a member throughout his tenure.
B. We propose and strongly recommend that NAHCON’s function should be limited to what is in the act which is to License, regulate and Supervise the state pilgrims board and Tour operators.
C. That hajj saving scheme should be operated by pilgrim’s welfare board of each state, the federal capital territory and Tour operators. This will no doubt give room to transparency.
2. We propose that there is a need for Tour operators and the state pilgrim’s welfare board to inform the public of the need to plan for hajj ahead of time. We recommend queue system as obtainable in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and other climes. This is possible through hajj saving scheme. Pilgrims should be encouraged to save their money gradually in a sharia-based saving institutions for the purpose of performing hajj without the fear of the money being tainted by usury (RIBA).
3. We propose and strongly recommend that AHOUN at all the Zones should be registered as a travel agents and AHUON members can subscribe to it. I am of the view that that they can become part of the mega agents in the future especially in view of the fact that merger/collaboration has come to stay.
4. That negotiations and contract with service providers in Saudi should be done by AHUON representatives. NAHCON should only regulate and serve as a witness.
5. There is a need to monitor the activities of Tour operators with respect to Hajj. Ahoun should take this seriously and apply sanctions where necessary to defaulters.
6. We need to critically look at various payments we pay to NAHCON on yearly basis. Such includes service fee, developmental levy , CBN fees, caution deposit, Licence fee etc. This house needs discuss this and come up with a position. I am aware of the efforts made in the past but we must not relent.
7. That the welfare of the pilgrims should be our topmost priority. There must be a benchmark of the minimum expected from Tour operators and this should be strictly monitored to sanitize the industry.
8. That the hajj time table should be strictly adhered to.
9. One important area that also needs urgent reform is in the area of lesser hajj.
Over the past two years, we have had issues with respect to issuance of Umrah visa which is due mainly to the problem of overstayers. We propose and recommend that the Nigerian government through NAHCON should engage the ministry of hajj.
We recommend that we go back to the old system where visa validity should not be more than two weeks from the issuance date. The idea of three months validity is a serious headache for us especially with the new policy of Saudi that 70 percent of the Umrah visas issued at a time should be utilized before they can open the system for another set of visas. This is greatly impacting on our business negatively. No doubt, we have not only lost revenue to visa problems but lost a lot of money to the Airlines.
I do hope that this house will critically look at these proposals and have a robust discussion around it in order to have common position of all our members.
Thank you all for listening
Alh Qasim Alabi Ishola
Lagos
