Madina (Saudi Arabia), June 2, 2023 (NAN) The Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), a Civil Society Organisation has set up a 5-man team to monitor the activities of Nigerian hajj officials and service providers in Saudi Arabia.
The National Coordinator of the CSO, Malam Ibrahim Muhammed, made this known in a statement, on Friday in Abuja.
Muhammad explained that the team would work with the Inspectorate and Evaluation Committee of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
He said the team was set up to ensure that all officials carry out their assigned tasks as spelt out in their schedule of duty.
Muhammad said the committee would particularly work with the Inspectorate department in monitoring the officials and service providers in Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah, Muna and Arafat.
“The committee will compile its observations in a form of a report which will be forwarded to all relevant officials for further actions.
“And to serve as a guide towards recruitment of adhoc officials in subsequent hajj exercise,” he added.
He said the would ensure that service providers engaged to serve Nigerian pilgrims in areas of accommodation, transport, feeding, sanitation and other services in Muna and Arafat live up to expectations.
The team is headed by the IHR National Coordinator, while the Secretary General Nuruddeen Abdallah, Head of Publications, Sani Tukur, Jidda Abubakar, and Mustapha Hodi, will serve as members.
” Over the years, we have observed that some officials, especially ad hoc ones, abandon their duties once they get to Saudi Arabia.
“This ugly trend affects the quality of services that was expected to be offered to our dear pilgrims.
” Some officials even go as far as personally demanding to be served instead of serving the pilgrims, which is the primary reason they are appointed.”
Muhammad observed that “Hajj officials from other countries are always in uniform for easy identification and are at the service of their pilgrims 24 hours.
“Most of them don’t perform hajj because they consider their primary responsibility of serving their respective pilgrims weightier than any other secondary issue.”
He said that the CSO would obtain the comprehensive lists of all states and NAHCON-appointed hajj officials, to effectively monitor their performance.
