No fewer than 50,000 Nigerians will be airlifted to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has disclosed.
The Executive Chairman of NAHCON, Jalal Arabi, made the disclosure at a news conference held at Hajj House on Friday, in Abuja.
Arabi said the Commission had put in place necessary arrangements to ensure a successful Hajj operation.
He stated that Nigerian Muslims would perform the 2024 Hajj in a number that nobody had ever imagined.
”This year’s Hajj preparations is one of the most difficult and peculiar ones. You know in the past, we had the luxury of time to prepare at our own pace; But, this time around, the host which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came up with the timeline that we have to work within”, he said.
Arabi said that the Federal Government had intervened in so many ways, especially with policies to support the commission to ensure that things did not go wrong.
“I made bold to say that there were a series of interventions that the government made in terms of policies to ensure that there is no unnecessary tension in the nation”, he said.
Arabi noted that, going forward, the Hajj Savings Scheme would be the surest method to adopt.
He assured that the commission would embark on adequate sensitisation and enlightenment to make sure that intending pilgrims key into it.
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had allocated 95,000 Hajj slots to Nigeria for the 2024 pilgrimage.