Last week, I started a rebuttal of the pathetic report of the Senate
Ad Hoc Committee on Accommodation, Logistics, Feeding, Onshore and
Offshore of Nigerian Pilgrims. As I have written earlier, I am
duty-bound to expose the lies and present the truth that anyone can
verify. I urge every other player in the Hajj and Umrah industry, who
has the fear of Allah in his mind and knows that these are unfounded
allegations (regardless of the lingering inefficiency of NAHCON), to
keep educating those who are seeing the lies written from outside and
assuming the worst as Nigerians are wont to do.
Let me continue with the rebuttal. Hopefully, it will clear the grey areas:
7. Allegation L: As I earlier explained, this is a false allegation.
Nigerian companies were not involved in the provision of services ab
initio. Ibrahim Suleiman, the Nigerian manager of a Saudi business,
Island Economic Ltd, owned by his wife, was the source of this false
information. Their company was not edged out for fun. They committed a
monumental fraud by nearly doubling the cost of the accommodation they
rented to the Kano State pilgrims.
NAHCON found out about this and other
infractions and penalised the company. The owner’s husband then
returned to Nigeria and has been lobbying for the Chairman of NAHCON to
be ‘dealt with’ for daring to do the needful. Anyone who is close to the
Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board can confirm this.
The other
aspect of the allegation that NAHCON rented buildings that were 10
kilometres away from the Haram is also untrue. I have been to the
accommodations myself and I know for a fact that NAHCON is giving us,
the ‘international’ tour operators a run for our money these days. They
use hotels that are close to the Haram both in Makkah and Madeenah. In
fact, in the case of Madeenah, they stay in the Markaziyyah area, which
is about as close to the Haram as you can get.
The report also
alleged that NAHCON imposed unilateral levies on the service providers.
This is a strange one. NAHCON has an annual budget which it sends to the
Presidency for inclusion into the total budget of the country. That
budget is defended in the Senate. In that budget, it made an estimate of
revenue that will fund the budget, as the country is moving away from
spoon-feeding any MDA. The estimates for NAHCON’s revenue included these
so-called unilateral charges and the Committee decided to ignore this
and instead tried to indict the Commission. How pathetic!
8. Allegation M: The report says that NAHCON issued dud (actually, the
report called it ‘dude’) cheques to Messrs Arif Mohammed Hijazi
Establishment in Saudia. The transaction in question was concluded in
October 2014, while the current Chairman was appointed the following
year.
The company received three instalments of the complete sum
through valid cheques. The manager of the company in question ran into
trouble with Saudi authorities over an unrelated matter and for some
reason withheld the cheques and did not lodge them. By law, all Hajj
Mission bank accounts in Saudia are closed by Muharram of the next year
(a month after the Hajj season ends in Dhul Hijjah), perhaps to
forestall the use of the accounts for funnelling money illegally into
the Kingdom. By not cashing the cheque in Dhul Hijjah, the money could
not be cashed any longer, since NAHCON’s account with the bank was
liquidated and closed.
When the manager was released, he formally
requested a new set of cheques to be issued to their company. Rather
than pay with three cheques, the entire sum was paid at once with a
single cheque in 2016. The manager was again charged to court and did
not cash the cheque or deposit it in the company’s account until the
next month of Muharram, when all accounts of Hajj Missions are closed.
After this, he approached NAHCON in 2017 to once again issue a cheque in
his own name this time. As a financially responsible organisation, they
declined the request. The transaction was not a personal one, but
between two legal entities.
This is what the Committee described
as issuing dude (sic) cheques. And to think that the Committee members
had access to the documents detailing this matter and deliberately
ignoring it. By Allah, every soul shall stand before the Lord of the
Ka’bah. How do these people want to face Allah with these lies?
9. Allegation N: The Committee report blamed NAHCON for not standing up
for the rights of Nigerian pilgrims and simply accepted that Saudi
careering companies should feed Nigerian pilgrims. This again exposes
the ignorance of the authors of the report. If they had been diligent,
the members would have asked the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudia,
when they visited, why the Hajj Missions of all countries were mandated
to include evidence of a catering contract with the other details they
submit on the e-Hajj portal of the Ministry.
Hitherto, Nigerian
pilgrims would suffer untold hardship as house owners and hotel
accommodation providers ripped them off with unfair conditions and less
than standard accommodation. The problem faced with food was quite
pathetic. The pilgrims ate from Nigerian food vendors, many of whom were
operating illegally and under quite unhygienic conditions. Many fell
ill on account of contaminated food.
To sanitise the system, the
Hajj Ministry and the Ministry of Interior in Saudia ensured that only
certified catering companies were allowed to provide catering services.
Of the list of licensed catering companies, your country’s Haj Mission
would shortlist the ones who met with the requirements of that
particular country and then ask the SPWBs to choose the ones they
wanted. After signing contracts with these companies, their names are
listed in the portal of the Hajj Ministry under the service providers
for your country. NAHCON cannot alter that arrangement. No country
pulled out of that arrangement; it wasn’t even theirs to pull out of.
The Committee goofed as usual. Anyone can visit
All external pilgrims are expected to provide the following on the
e-Hajj portal, either through their licensed tour operator like me or
through their country’s Hajj Mission like NAHCON:
A schedule of their flights.
An application for the issuance of Hajj Visa.
An application for the approval of transport contracts.
An application for the approval of accommodation Contracts.
An application for the approval of catering Contracts.
Request for Tafweej of Umrah pilgrims from Makkah to Madinah under housing agreements.
An application for the approval of service package contracts intended for the pilgrims.
An application for the payment of bank guarantees.
Without the above information, the e-Hajj portal will not even allow you to complete the process.
For anyone who has been monitoring the progress of the Hajj Commission,
it is clear that they are improving with each year. When was the last
you heard about crowds of abandoned pilgrims in Saudia? NAHCON is even
competing with VIP tour operators for the use of VIP buses. Rather than
commend this, the Committee seems angry at the improvements.
To
further expose their ignorance and malicious intent, the Committee
alleged in the report that Messrs Shuraka Al Khair was given the
contract to handle the catering for 23 SPWBs in 2017. Although the
company in question is experienced and qualified to handle the catering
of any SPWB, it did not partake in catering for Nigerian pilgrims in
2017. Not only that, the allegation makes no sense because NAHCON merely
licenses catering companies from which each SPWB will choose. Where did
these people obtain information?
10. Allegation O: This
one is laughable! The Saudi General Car Syndicate (a.k.a. Niqaabah)
handles the fixing of transport fares. The rate that the report alleges
to be hiked by NAHCON was, in reality, just a review by that Syndicate
for the routes Nigerian pilgrims ply during the Hajj season. The buses
they used were also much better than before. The uninitiated would
mistake the buses for those of ‘international’ tour operators. Indeed,
many tour operators used those buses.
11. Allegation P:
The report alleges that NAHCON sponsors an outrageous number of
officials on Hajj. It also mentioned that these officials were mere
families and cronies of the real officials. The Committee could not
substantiate this. I saw a rejoinder by NAHCON’s Executive Secretary to
the allegation, which bears repeating verbatim here:
“While
NAHCON cannot hold brief for any State, it has restricted the
recruitment of its officials to medical personnel, ulama, media and
institutional representatives nominated by their respective
organizations”.
The disturbing level of laziness and the apparent
lack of due diligence has made the Senate Ad Hoc Committee report a
study in how not to write a report. It is shoddy and calculated to
embarrass these hardworking souls at NAHCON. It should be thrown where
it rightly belongs: the dustbin.
Date Published: Friday, November 9th,2018
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