Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Zilkrallah Kunle Hassan has expressed pleasure at the successful completion of airlift of all registered Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj rituals. He said the over 95, 000 Nigerians transported to the Kingdom will be at the Arafat on Tuesday to mark the climax of the spiritual pilgrimage.
Hassan, who gave the assurance at the pre-Arafat conference in Makkah, said this year’s operation will go down in history as the most successful Hajj ever witnessed in Nigeria.
According to him, the commission put all its hands on deck – including board members physically present at various departure zones to actively participate in monitoring the airlift operations, to record the successes witnessed thus far.
He said every Hajj exercise was an experimentation in which new problems encountered were tackled and reviewed with the aim of preventing future occurrence.
Hassan informed participants at the conference that the commission took proactive measures in entering agreement for five rescue flights in case there was any hitch that could have torpedoed the targeted completion date, which he said were later cancelled after successful completion of outbound operations.
He applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and Nigerian envoys in Saudi Arabia for their guidance, support, cooperation and understanding, saying without their support the successful transportation of all the 95,000 eligible Nigerian pilgrims to the Kingdom would have been difficult.
Hassan also applauded the executive chairmen of the 36 states and the FCT pilgrims welfare boards, agencies and commissions for their support towards ensuring successful transportation of all Nigerian eligible pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.
Similarly, he commended the Association of Umrah and Hajj Tour Operators of Nigeria for working round the clock to ensure the success of the first phase of the 2023 Hajj operation.
