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Nigeria: Hajj Comm. Approves 4,300 Seats for Niger Pilgrims
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Leadership (Abuja)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Abdulazeez Sani
Abuja
The National Hajj Commission has approved 4,300 seats for intending pilgrims from Niger State out of the 5,000 seats requested by the State Pilgrim Board.
The Executive chairman of the state Pilgrim Welfare Board, Alh. Isah Ndagiman, who disclosed this at a news briefing in Minna yesterday, said efforts are still being made to prevail on the Hajj Commission to allocate additional 700 seats to the state. Ndagiman explained that this has become imperative because about 4,900 intending pilgrims have already paid for the pilgrimage. He stated that the minimum Hajj fare for 2008 is N418,000; medium N448,000; and maximum N507,000.
According to him, the minimum BTA is $750; medium $1,000 and maximum $1,500 pre pilgrim. The chairman attributed the hike in the Hajj fare to the high demand of accommodation in Saudi- Arabia as well as the increase in the price of aviation fuel. Ndagiman disclosed that the state government has provided a fuel dump at the Minna airport as well as two additional fire fighter vehicles; a development which he said qualified the airport as category "7" Airport. He stated that most of the state, pilgrim welfare Board, were against the decision of the National Hajj Commission to allocate airlines to the states without the input of the various state pilgrim Boards.
According to him, such a policy could create serious problem for the intending pilgrims, resulting in the inability of the airlines to airlift them to the holyland before the closer of the Jeddah airport, as experienced in the country about three years ago. The chairman also disclosed that the Board has mapped out series of sensitization and enlightment programmes for the intending pilgrims, stressing that those who lacked basic knowledge about the Hajj rites will be disqualified from performing the exercise.
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