omonnakoda: FEE? PAID ? TO WHOM ? OGUN STATE? Are you joking?
Even if the fee paid is paid to government and I have seen no evidence of this and the fee is excessive then the fee should be negotiated. Government TIME should NOT be spent procuring phones for private citizens.The most logical thing is a cash rebate . However I see no EVIDENCE that pilgrims pay ANY money to OGUN STATE.
I am sure that if government claims to have spent one naira on a phone the recipient would prefer to receive that 1 naira and buy the phones by themselves. I do not see any evidence of OGUN STATE getting any of the fee paid by pilgrims and if they do that must have been arrived at through some "due process" which should apply in this case

I cannot imagine that anyone going on hajj does not already have mobile phones. why mobile phones why not custard or Kulikuli or rice

What next mobile phones for people paying for C of O,Paying School fees, etc ?

The real question is was there a budget for this? Government money should not be spending money on whims and gimmicks. If government is going to spend money on phones then PUT IT IN THE BUDGET. All this FATHER CHRISTMAS posturing by government officials buying Rams and chickens and phones and Pampers is ridiculous.

I quarrel with your logic which goes something like this Dangote pays billions in tax so goverment should buy him a cow each year to show appreciation and poor people who pay hundreds or thousands should keep quiet.

You are debating something you don't know about. People get lost a lot during hajj. If the phones have preinstalled emergency numbers and activation for hajj, it makes sense.

omonnakoda:
This is a suggestion by any stretch of the English Language. Or is this NOT a suggestion? Please check up the meaning of the word and stop being childish
.
In order word you indicate that there is a possibility. I am saying there is NO POSSIBILITY of such.
Ogun state is NOT a carrier for HAJJ

Your ignorance is grand. Pratically every state in Nigeria has a Muslim Pilgrims Welfare/Hajj Board.

Hajj is a major logistic challenge for Saudi and Muslim countries. It is bigger than Olympics held every 4 years in terms of number of visitors and their concentration in locations for its rites.

It is not child's play.

maclatunji:

You are debating something you don't know about. People get lost a lot during hajj. If the phones have preinstalled emergency numbers and activation for hajj, it makes sense.

And you have a Phd on the subject?? No one is debating whether or not people require phones .

The issue is that Government should not buy phones for them. People get lost everyday hajj or no hajj. If there is evidence that somehow mobile phones are the solution to LOST ALHAJIS AND ALHAJAS let them buy phones for themselves. Anyone who can afford 500000 for hajj can afford 10000 for a phone. Nothing to do with Ogun State


So Ogun Alhajis and Alhajas are now less likely to go missing than those from Oyo or Kwara whose government have not given them phones. What about phones for Youth Corpers and schol children and beggars?

Please try and talk with some sense. So far you are just ventilating the meaningless contents of your head

maclatunji:

Your ignorance is grand. Pratically every state in Nigeria has a Muslim Pilgrims Welfare/Hajj Board.

Hajj is a major logistic challenge for Saudi and Muslim countries. It is bigger than Olympics held every 4 years in terms of number of visitors and their concentration in locations for its rites.

It is not child's play.

Not true and Not relevant.


The argument is that Ogun State receives payment from pilgrims in excess of cost and therefore is making considerabe profit and should out of that profit be able to offer something back.

That is the proposition and it is not true. There is no evidence for this. If any of those making that claim have evidence let them present it. how much it costs how much is paid and the difference. FACTS AND FIGURES PLEASE

naptu2: I just discovered that the state government sponsored pilgrims in the past. I wonder if the anti-spam bot will ban me if I post the article.

Yes, states sponsor pilgrims but majority are paid for in the Southwest with state hajj boards coordinating the process.

We also have private sector hajj operators that fly Muslims to Saudi, organise their accommodation and transportation there.

omonnakoda:
And you have a Phd on the subject?? No one is debating whether or not people require phones .

The issue is that Government should not buy phones for them. People get lost everyday hajj or no hajj. If there is evidence that somehow mobile phones are the solution to LOST ALHAJIS AND ALHAJAS let them buy phones for themselves. Anyone who can afford 500000 for hajj can afford 10000 for a phone. Nothing to do with Ogun State


So Ogun Alhajis and Alhajas are now less likely to go missing than those from Oyo or Kwara whose government have not given them phones. What about phones for Youth Corpers and schol children and beggars?

Please try and talk with some sense. So far you are just ventilating the meaningless contents of your head

You are still displaying ignorance. Money during hajj without people responsible for guiding you is a recipe for disaster. That is what the government and private operators provide.

omonnakoda: Not true and Not relevant.


The argument is that Ogun State receives payment from pilgrims in excess of cost and therefore is making considerabe profit and should out of that profit be able to offer something back.

That is the proposition and it is not true. There is no evidence for this. If any of those making that claim have evidence let them present it. how much it costs how much is paid and the difference. FACTS AND FIGURES PLEASE

Visit the Ogun State Hajj Board on Monday and satisfy yourself.

maclatunji:
You are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am notYou are still displaying ignorance. I am not

Any dunce can say that. The point is anyone who wants a phone should buy one theirself. Nothing to do with government

maclatunji:

Visit the Ogun State Hajj Board on Monday and satisfy yourself.

You have no facts and nothing to say really . Just air-headed emissions.

maclatunji:

Yes, states sponsor pilgrims but majority are paid for in the Southwest with state hajj boards coordinating the process.

We also have private sector hajj operators that fly Muslims to Saudi, organise their accommodation and transportation there.

I know that. That's what the Hajj Commission is for. I'm saying that the article said that the phones are free, but they can't be termed "free phones" if they are paid for with the pilgrims' funds.

Basically the journalist/editor did a bad job. What they should have done is call up the commissioner of information and ask

1) Why is the state giving pilgrims free phones?

2) How is it being funded?

By the way, don't take that guy seriously, he likes arguing just for the sake of it. I used a conditional "if" and he claims that I "suggested". He claimed that governments don't reward tax payers and I provided proof to the contrary (he kept quiet). He claimed that Ogun State has got nothing to do with hajj fees (don't they collect the fees from the pilgrims? Who builds the hajj camps?) And now he's talking about "difference" (as if you work with the Ogun State Government).

Don't take him too seriously. I just laugh at him and enjoy his comic value.

^I don't take him serious. He can go and protest against the phones in Abeokuta. That is what activists do and we can have a good laugh.