The federal government has released a sum of N90 billion
to subsidise the 2024 pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, Daily Trust has learnt.
An impeccable source within the National Hajj Commission
of Nigeria (NAHCON) revealed this to Daily Trust on
Thursday.
The source, who asked not to be named, noted that without
this intervention, each of the intending pilgrims would have
been requested to add at least N3.5 million to the initial
fare which was pegged at N4.9 million.
A top official at the Presidency also confirmed that the
federal government “actually provided some financial
support for the hajj exercise”.
Recall that the NAHCON had, in December last year, fixed a
fare of N4.9 million per pilgrim based on the exchange rate
of N897 to a dollar.
In announcing the fare at that time, the commission had
quoted the sum of N4,899,000 for southern pilgrims;
N4,699,000 for those from the North; while pilgrims from
Yola and Maiduguri centres were asked to pay N4,679,000.
Through a statement issued on Sunday by its
spokesperson, Fatima Usara, the hajj commission had
raised the fare by N1, 918,032.91, jacking up the total
amount to N6.8 million.
The commission had also said intending pilgrims had up to
yesterday (March 28, 2024) to make payment for the
spiritual exercise.
The NAHCON had attributed the latest hike in hajj fare to
the foreign exchange crisis which Nigeria has been battling
for months.
The NAHCON’s source told Daily Trust that if the
commission had received up to N230 billion as support
from the federal government, there would have been no
need to ask intending pilgrims “to add a dime.”
“The forex crisis has caused a lot of problems. That is why
the Hajj Commission has asked intending pilgrims to pay
the extra amount of N1.9 million each. The commission
actually needed N230 billion to sort out the fare differential
caused by the forex crisis.
“The N90 billion support which was provided by the
government was announced in the presence of reporters
during the inauguration of the board and management of
the Hajj Commission which was held at the Office of the
Vice Presidency on February 28, 2024. But they (reporters)
were asked not to report it. That was why no newspaper
carried the report. Or did you see it in any reports?”
“If the intending pilgrims pay ₦1.9 million, it is then it can
be balanced,” the source further stated.
He said the NAHCON had also contacted state governors
“to subsidise the hajj fare for the intending pilgrims in their
respective states. Kano has responded by subsiding it by
N500,000 for each pilgrim.
“By the previous calculation, the N90 billion given by the
federal government can only subsidise 19,000 intending
pilgrims by ₦3.5 million. But by spreading it on 50,000
pilgrims, it reduces it to N1.9 million; meaning that the
federal government has subsidised each pilgrim by ₦1.6
million before each intending pilgrim was asked to add the
remaining N1.9 million,” he said.
A presidency source, who also spoke to Daily Trust
yesterday, said it was true that the federal government had
provided what he called a “huge financial support” for this
year’s hajj exercise.
Asked to confirm whether the federal government released
up to N90 billion as support for the pilgrimage, the official
simply said: “that might not be far from the truth.”
He added, “Of course, the federal government has offered
support for the pilgrims because the pilgrims have been
lamenting.
“Normally, any support that the government is giving to any
faith, whether the Christian faith or the Muslim faith, the
government does not like to announce it openly so that it
will not appear as if the government is favouring on faith.”


https://dailytrust.com/exclusive-fg-subsidises-hajj-fares-with-n90bn/

mynd44 oam4j lalasticlala seun nlfpmod

Good development

This is good
I commend the FG on this laudable initiative.
The FG should ensure that no Muslim ummah is left behind in this very important quest to ensure that our Muslim brothers and sisters are worthy candidates for Al-Jannah.
We are all aware what's at stake when it comes to making it into Al-Jannah.
We need to ensure that going for this holy pilgrimage is top on our national priority.
We might have 9.2m children out of school
We might even be reputed to have over 6million Nigerians internally displaced.
It is even statistically possible that we have 133m of us multi-dimensional poor.
All these pales into insignificance at the slightest possibility of our Muslim brethren missing out on Al-Jannah
Boko is already haram in our land. Those children can learn Ajami and they'll be fine.
The internally displaced can find a new home anywhere in our fatherland.
Those who are poor can eat the abundant palliatives.
But there's no substitute for Al-Jannah.
I hereby commend the govt for this with one bottle of star sorry one kettle of water

No N50Bn for ASUU. No upgrade for police.

Anyway I don't see this as subsidy, since they collected the money earlier and refuse to do the needful to convert the fund ... So it's their responsibility to fix the issue. So we spend this much on Pilgrimage to other country , I hope we work on our tourism potential ... China might not be religious but they care for their citizen.. I am happy Russia is saying that the Lord Jesus is a black man, who knows if Angel Gabriel too is black ...we no dey record history na to dey copy copy all the time.