The twenty pilgrims sponsored by the leading ICT and telecommunications company, MTN, have arrived the country, after fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam and having a life enriching experience in the holy land of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrims, who came with a high sense of spiritual fulfilment, showered encomium on MTN for not just given them a rare opportunity they have long desired but, making them better people in their Islamic faith with awesome experience.
Apart from fulfilling the Hajj rites, they had the privilege of visiting the Prophet Mosque in Medina.
One of the excited beneficiaries, Hajarat Ahmed Aboki, a thirty year old post graduate student, from Suleja, Niger state, while commending MTN for the rare privilege given to her, stated how uplifting and fulfilling the journey was. “Sincerely, words cannot express how I feel. This is a rare opportunity given to me for just subscribing to an Islamic content on the MTN Value Added Services. This is my first time of travelling for Hajj and even travelling out of the country.
“Alhamdulillah (to God be the glory), I was able to perform the Umrah, the Hajj itself and other Islamic obligations expected from a pilgrim who travels to Mecca. It is so amazing, fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam without paying a dime. All my expenses were taken care of, from my flight from Abuja to Lagos, then to Saudi Arabia and coming back, It was an awesome experience.
Speaking on how the journey to the holy land impacted so much in her life, Aboki stated: “it has had a great impact in my life. It has made me a changed person; feeling like new born child, because I felt my sins have been forgiven and washed away Insha’Allah (by God’s grace).
Another sponsored pilgrim, Mohammed Bello, from Lagos, stated that the journey has uplifted his spiritual life. “I feel spiritually uplifted. I was able to raise the banner of Tawheed high and reviving its characteristics that have perished. This is one of the foremost objectives of Hajj. I was able to throw pebbles during the last Days of At-Tashreeq, which is the last of the rituals of Hajj that a pilgrim does before performing Tawaaf Al-Wadaa‘, leaving Makkah to go home.”
Speaking on how the subscribers were selected, the Senior Manager, Segments Marketing, MTN, Saidat Lawal-Mohammed Mohammed-Lawal states that the subscribers were selected through a computer-based random selection, on the digital Value Added Services like the daily devotionals, Islamic quotes, sermons, Islamic songs, prayers, Islamic callertunez and other spiritually uplifting and faith enriching contents they subscribed to.
“It is a reward for their dedication to our services that we decided to appreciate our customers and express how important they are to us” she says.
Meanwhile, before Nigerian pilgrims travelled for this year’s pilgrimage, MTN was at various Hajj Camps across the Country and distributed over 20,000 travel kits including bags, money waist pouch, bathroom slippers and free MTN SIMs card.