Hajj: FG should go beyond stopping sponsored pilgrimages (I)

In another decisive move to check wastages in government, President Muhammadu Buhari recently declared that there would be no federal government delegation for the 2015 hajj exercise. The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity Malam Garba Shehu told State House journalists that the federal government by this decision is expected to save about $1million and N30m in local expenses. This money could be utilized to directly and positively touch the lives of Nigerians in critical areas of education, health and employment creation.
Although there have been improvements in hajj operations in recent years, there is still room for perfection. Some sharp practices including financial leakages yet exist at different levels of the system. This is why President Muhammad Buhari is encouraged to go beyond just putting federal government delegation on hold. In fact, the Amirul-Hajj or federal government delegation to hajj should permanently be discontinued.
Given the loose definition of ‘hajj delegation’ under an Amirul-Hajj as well as the pleasurable privileges attached to being a member of the group, this policy has since become an gratuitous liability on the country’s already overstrained resources. Besides, the undefined role of the federal government delegation to hajj is another plausible reason to persuade a prudent administration such as President Buhari’s against sponsored pilgrimages.
If state pilgrims’ welfare boards or agencies have the sole responsibility of catering for the welfare of their pilgrims in the entire hajj operation within Nigeria and in the holy land, it becomes difficult to understand what would be there again for members of the federal government delegation to do. More so, each state in the country usually appoints its own state delegation under a state Amirul-Hajj. Although the federal government has advised that states could appoint their respective hajj delegations, state governments in the country are equally encouraged to re-think state delegation to hajj as the ad hoc functions of state Amirul-Hajj Committees, most often, conflict with the statutorily roles of officials of the state pilgrims’ board.
Those who constitute government hajj delegations are generally VIPs who presumably have performed the hajj (some of them several times) before. Some of them consider their membership of the delegation as an opportunity for vacation and shopping. For the greater period of the hajj exercise, some of them stay back in their 5-Star hotel rooms; sometimes failing to even observe some rites of the hajj. Pilgrims do not even see most of these hajj officials during the hajj exercise. How would they see the officials when some of them spend most of their time shuttling between Makkah and Jeddah for shopping? When such so-called officials are compelled (by certain hajj rites) to remain in tents while at the Mina plane, they make sure that the tents in which they stay are hundreds of meters away from those occupied by the pilgrims they claim to have officially accompanied to the holy land. That is the Nigerian way, and not the Islamic manner, of serving people. Of course, not all the states of the federation and not everyone on the delegation may be guilty of this.
With the huge sums of money expended on the annual hajj exercise by the federal, state and local governments in the country, the interest and welfare of pilgrims has always remained on her knees begging for attention from those charged with the responsibility. When pilgrims fall sick, they most often rely on their colleagues to care and cater for them even though medical and health workers are sponsored by state and federal governments to the holy land for such exigencies. In fact, this writer suggests that the word ‘welfare’ should be deleted from the label “Pilgrims’ Welfare Board/Agency” as they are called at state level.
In the hajj exercise, cleric is the most important group whose services are more useful to pilgrims at the holy land. They guide pilgrims on how, when and where to observe all the rites of hajj. Nonetheless, the number of those to be sponsored by government even on such a platform should be small because intending pilgrims are expected to have received training before departing Nigeria for the holy land. Membership of the medical team and other areas in which government provides interventions in the hajj exercise also need to be reviewed.
Another issue of concern is that Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world where pilgrimage is organized on the basis of individual states, which in the opinion of some Nigerians, is a convenient window for corrupt practices. It does not sound reasonable that a state pilgrims’ board requires as many as ten or more cars including jeeps for local running while in the holy land. This appears wasteful considering the fact the bills for fuelling and maintenance of the vehicles as well as the wages for the chauffeurs would also have to be settled.
Nigeria could learn from countries such as Indonesia where prudence is the watch-word in public expenditure. They do not have state pilgrims boards but a national commission similar to Nigeria’s NAHCON with branches in various states of the country. Indonesia for many years has had the largest number of pilgrims that go to perform hajj annually. Yet, it has better arrangements than Nigeria in nearly all aspects of the hajj exercise including the judicious management of hajj funds.
Some government officials in Nigeria, today, brazenly abuse the public trust of managing hajj funds as if such were another ‘national cake’. Recent media reports, for instance, indicate that some pilgrims from Plateau State may not be able to perform the 2015 hajj because of this same issue of misuse of hajj funds contributed by intending pilgrims. In the recent past too, some local government chairmen in Niger State were allegedly accused of misappropriating hajj funds which consequently led to the inability of some intending pilgrims (from the affected LGAs) to perform hajj. Bosso, Lavun, Munya, and Paiko are some of the local governments in Niger State which in the past have suffered from such fiscal irresponsibility. The then Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State had to suspend the then serving chairman of Munya LGA who was already in the holy land for hajj but had pilgrims from his LGA stranded in Nigeria due to alleged misappropriation of hajj funds.
The discourse, in shaa Allah, continues next week. May Allah (SWT) guide us to see public office and funds as trust that will be accounted for, amin.