The Lagos State government has called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON to decentralize its medical team to the Holy land.
The state which commended the Commission for good administration of the 2023 Hajj operations believes whittling down the power to the central medical team will ensure optimal performance during the period.
Head of the Lagos State Hajj team, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, the immediate past commissioner for Home Affairs in the state made the statement to the journalists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after successful airlifting of all contingent of Lagos State for pilgrimage to the Holy land.
Elegushi explained that the state has so far delivered on its mandate of quality administration particularly when discussing Hajj exercise and would love to collaborate with other critical stakeholders for more effective deliveries.
He said, “So far so good we have been having a peaceful arrangement, although with little hitches, which is normal but so far we have been able to control crowd and resolve other issues regarding the pilgrims that came up and after all, we have been able to lifted over three thousand pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and for now, everything is okay for Lagos Pilgrims.
“NAHCON has done well, but the area I will like to talk about is the area of monopoly, I think they should reduce the power of the operation, there are some that state can do better for example the area of medical, although NAHCON is always prepared, but looking at the number of people that came from Nigeria, their facilities may be overwhelmed.
“If we can have medical care from the houses where pilgrims reside, it would reduce pressure on major medical infrastructure, they should at least release some powers to the state, I am sure, things will go well if they can do that.”
Elegushi added that the last batch of the state will move to Makkah for the official kick off of the Hajj exercise this weekend, while reassuring the pilgrims of better arrangements in the coming days.
