While at least N99.4bn was saved from the cancellation of hajj, not less than N3.7bn was saved from Christian pilgrimage, which did not take place in the Easter and Christmas periods.

Saudi Arabia allocates 95,000 slots to Nigeria yearly but the figure has not surpassed 79,000 in the last three years and even dropped to 65,000 in 2019. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), his wife, Aisha, and his entire entourage also performed the Hajj last year.

FarahAideed:
Money that Saudi Arabia would have wacked just like that

adenigga:

Nigerians and the government have saved at least N103.1bn from the cancellation of pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, findings by The PUNCH indicate.

While at least N99.4bn was saved from the cancellation of hajj, not less than N3.7bn was saved from Christian pilgrimage, which did not take place in the Easter and Christmas periods.


The figure is based on the average number of Nigerians that had gone on pilgrimages in the last three years multiplied by the figure that pilgrimage agencies charge for transport, accommodation, feeding and other logistics.

While an average of 66,333 Muslims had participated yearly in the Hajj in Mecca between 2017 and 2019, a yearly average of 5,000 Christians had visited Jerusalem within the same period.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, which is saddled with the responsibility of providing accommodation, transport and other services related to the performance of the Hajj and Umrah to pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, charges N1.5m for each pilgrim. The figure multiplied by 66,333 means N99.4bn is what could have been spent by Muslims in 2020.


The number of Muslim pilgrims is usually a lot more than that of Christians because performing the Hajj at least once in a lifetime is one of the five pillars of Islam, which the Quran describes as a religious obligation that is meant for the faithful, who can afford it.

However, visiting Jerusalem for pilgrimage is not an obligation for Christians.

Saudi Arabia allocates 95,000 slots to Nigeria yearly but the figure has not surpassed 79,000 in the last three years and even dropped to 65,000 in 2019. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), his wife, Aisha, and his entire entourage also performed the Hajj last year.

For Christian pilgrims, the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission charges N740,000 per pilgrim which is less than half of what Muslims pay. It covers a return ticket, visa processing, all forms of insurance, tour of holy sites, hotels accommodation and feeding. The N740,000 multiplied by 5,000 pilgrims means N3.7bn has been saved by the cancellation of this year’s pilgrimage.

The spokesperson for the agency regulating Muslim pilgrimage, Fatima Usara, said the COVID-19 pandemic had indeed affected the hajj which would have taken place between July and August.

Usara said a few intending pilgrims had received full refunds from NAHCON and state pilgrimage boards, while others decided that the money be left in the hands of the pilgrimage agencies for the next Hajj in 2021.

For instance in Kaduna State, about 188 people requested for refund of their payment, out of 2,383 who paid for the pilgrimage.

The NAHCON spokesperson said, “Saudi Arabia has been giving Nigeria 95,000 slots for about five years. We used to fill the slots but in the past two years, we have not been able to do so.”

On how much each pilgrim is charged, she said, “Tentatively each year we request for an initial deposit of N1.5m pending the final calculation and negotiations. But normally it doesn’t exceed the N1.5m and sometimes it drops. It is just a tentative amount. After negotiations and booking for accommodation, flights and others, if there is a need for refund, we refund intending pilgrims and if there is a need to add to it, so be it.”

On how many intending pilgrims had been refunded, Usara said, “Yes, we have been refunding. Immediately it was clear to NAHCON that hajj wasn’t going to take place, the commission directed all state welfare boards to pay back pilgrims who wished for a refund.

‌“Anyone who applied for it was refunded but those who wish to rollover their funds would be given priority in the next Hajj. Only about five per cent of intending pilgrims requested for a refund.”

Also, the spokesman for the federal agency in charge of Christian pilgrimage, Celestine Ogugua, said the inability of Christians to travel to Israel for pilgrimage in 2020 should not be viewed as a loss since Israel does not allocate slots to Nigeria the way Saudi Arabia does.

Ogugua stated that the pilgrimage programme for Christians was not structured within a calendar year like their Muslim counterparts but ran on July to July schedule, which means Christian pilgrims still have seven months grace period to go on pilgrimage.

The NCPC spokesman said, “For us, this year’s pilgrimage programme is still on even with the COVID-19 because our own runs till July 2021. So, it is in the first quarter of next year that we will decide whether to continue or not.

“Of course, we couldn’t do Christmas and Easter pilgrimage but you know pilgrimage for us is not fixed.”

On the number of Christians that usually embark on pilgrimage, Ogugua said, “It is not stable. Before the last three years, we used to have between 17,000 and 20,000; and then it dropped to 5,000.

Ogugua said, “But with the new leadership, the stakeholders are happy and it is going on well. We have not been able to go since our present Executive Secretary assumed office in July.

“However, we have started screening intending pilgrims. We had screened Asaba, Lagos and Nasarawa pilgrims before the Christmas holiday.”

Source:
https://m.punchng.com/News/N103.1bn-saved-from-cancelled-pilgrimages-over-COVID-19-pandemic

grandiose4ever:
Just imagine this mumus.

So they spend this much on religious tourism. Makes no sense.

That money spent on flagship university program can give us three world class universities (top 100).

Lalasticlala

While an average of 66,333 Muslims had participated yearly in the Hajj in Mecca between 2017 and 2019, a yearly average of 5,000 Christians had visited Jerusalem within the same period.

The number of Muslim pilgrims is usually a lot more than that of Christians because performing the Hajj at least once in a lifetime is one of the five pillars of Islam, which the Quran describes as a religious obligation that is meant for the faithful, who can afford it.

While at least N99.4bn was saved from the cancellation of hajj, not less than N3.7bn was saved from Christian pilgrimage, which did not take place in the Easter and Christmas periods

AltarBoy1:


99.4bn for hajj and 3.7bn for Christian pilgrimage. Yet they tell us that this country is fair to all, I hope they make allocation for iffa and amadioha worshippers too .
Keeping that aside, 104bn spent on religious ground. Religion should be a personal thing, what da f is govt doing spending tax payers money on this. If for the past ten years this budget have been used to fund our railway, by now all the states would have been connected.

We really have brainless leaders

adenigga:


Please, can you see how salient this thread is & our moderators are trying not to be seeing as religious bias, so they can't put it in front page.

Everything Buhari, Tinubu....name it will quickly come to front page plus personal life of the so called celebrities that add nothing to nations building just not to be tagged as bias!

I'm not impressed!!!!

Tolexander:
Wao!

Some country leaders knew the importance of tourism and the contribution to the economy, the reason they had to seriously imbibed it using religion. Most especially Saudi Arabia, making it one of the 5 pillars of Islam to be a worthy Muslim.

Imagine the Nigerian Government developing our heritage and tourism sites and attracting tourists, raking in billions of Naira annually, Nigeria will be richer than this.

I still wonder the rationale behind the Federal, State and Local Government sponsoring people for Hajj or any other pilgrimage