By Sani Tukur
Nigerians were not surprised when President Bola Tinubu announced on August 19 this year that Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman had been appointed as the Chairman in acting capacity of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
Citizens are not surprised because Professor Usman was replacing the embattled Chairman of the commission, Jalal Ahmad Arabi. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating him after several petitions were received against him alleging mismanagement of funds during this year’s Hajj operations.
It is instructive to note that Arabi, who spearheaded only one Hajj operation, equally replaced the third board of NAHCON, Led by Zikirullah Kunle Hassan, whose tenure of office was cut short after several petitions against his management of Hajj operations were filed.
The release announcing the appointment of Professor Usman described him as “a renowned scholar with qualifications from two Islamic centres of excellence — the University of Madinah and Peshawar University, Pakistan”.
It also said that as the chairman of the Kano state Pilgrims agency, the Prof. Supervised the largest contingent to Hajj from a state.
It is, therefore, safe to say the new NAHCON boss comes loaded with experience and I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him a successful term of office after the Senate eventually confirms him.
However, it is pertinent to drop a word of caution to the new NAHCON helmsman. Experience has shown that it is not an easy sit to occupy and one must show a high level of competence, human management and transparency to succeed.
Although Hajj is a religious affair, running it is majorly operational.
Knowledge of the Deen is, therefore, not enough, one must be grounded in operational matters such as effective management of pilgrims’ Airlift, accommodation, transportation, security, feeding, luggage and most importantly, finances.
The new chairman only needs to learn from the experiences of his two immediate predecessors in order to know what to do and not to do to have a successful tenure.
Both Hassan and Arabi came with Rich experiences in the public service and Hajj industry respectively, but were perceived as inadequate.
My advice is, the staff are there and all other documents and records are there to show the new chairman what happened and how were they rightly or wrongly handled.
It is only by doing so, and constantly seeking the favours and guidance of Allah and by also doing your utmost best to stay above board that you will i
Insha Allah have a successful tenure.
We need a stable management of Hajj in Nigeria now more than ever, let me therefore, once again congratulate you and wish you a successful stay as our boss in the Hajj industry.
