Bishop Stephen Adegbite, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), has said he met a disorganised commission when he assumed office as its head.
Adegbite said this at an interactive session with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja to commemorate his first anniversary. He described what he saw on the ground as `terrible`.
When I took over from my predecessor, I knew I would face a terrible situation, which was probably why I wanted to be the board chairman and not the Executive secretary.
“So when I came in, I saw the mess. We were in a state of melancholy. Many people had taken NCPC to court, including our service providers, air carriers, ground handlers, and private operators (CPOs),” he said.
He said that before now, money was collected without transporting pilgrims, but the money was never found.
“The money was not in the NCPC account in the bank, so we started at minus zero because the amount we were looking for at that time was N3.8 billion. So, how do we move forward with such a thing?
Adegbite said that to avoid delays in transporting pilgrims, the commission started paying service providers up to 80%.
`Once we give them their money, they will have no reason to mess us up during the pilgrimage.
He said that moving forward, he would reorganise the system by making critical changes in the various departments.
“We made changes and put the round pegs in the round holes, and moving forward, you must be dedicated and well versed in what you are doing,“ he said.
Adegbite said that, with his experience with pilgrimage for about 30 years, the commission was able to overcome the problems.
He said that a situation where service providers were being owed has become a thing of the past.
“Before now, they rendered services on credit, payment was a problem; instead of condemning us now, they are commending us. The Israeli government now has confidence in us, “ he said.
On staff welfare, he said that the commission has been able to boost staff morale by ensuring they participate in pilgrimage operations and receive their allowances.
“ We have been able to boost staff morale by ensuring they all go on pilgrimage and are paid their estacode. 187 staff members are going on pilgrimage, and they will be paid their estacode.
“We extended a hand of fellowship to the media because they project our activities positively to the public, “he said.
He said that this year’s pilgrimage would take the commission to a higher ground, and the next one would be better than this.
Adegbite said the commission has zero tolerance for absconding, adding that it has had three cases so far since its assumption of office.
“Since we started this operation in 2024, we have three cases so far, and we are expatriating some of them now; one ran away immediately when he got to Israel.
“He went to the authorities and applied for asylum and was asked if his country had a problem. He is back in Nigeria.
“We are working to bring the other two back to Nigeria.
According to Israeli law, they will be allowed to stay for three or six months; after that, they will be picked like fish back home anyway,’’ he said.
He advised intending pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the country when they reached the holy land and to desist from absconding.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adegbite took over from Rev Yakubu Pam on February 5, 2024.
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