The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has explained how the states and the private tour operators fared during the last hajj exercises leading to the ratings and awards presented to them.
Spokesman of the commission Uba Mana said yesterday in a statement that the awards were introduced as part of the ongoing reforms in the conduct of Hajj Operations in Nigeria to among others boost productivity, ensure efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery to the pilgrims.
“To this effect a committee was set up to review the performances of State Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies and Commissions (SPWBAC) as well as Tour Operators during the Hajj 2015 and 2016 in seven key areas submitted its recommendations for the best performing states and tour operators for awards.
“The seven areas include E-Track, pilgrims education and enlightenment, turaddudiyyah (transportation), airlift, accommodation, feeding and hand luggage management. Based on the on the above categorization, Lagos, Kano and the Armed Forces came first, second and third on E-Track, while on pilgrims education and enlightenment, Kano, Lagos and FCT took the position first, second and third position respectively,” Mana said.
According to him on Turaddudiya, Kano, Lagos, and FCT came first, second and third while in the area of airlift of pilgrims, Kwara, Ogun and Lagos took the first, second and third positions respectively.
On the hand luggage management, Bauchi, Kaduna, and Gombe States took the first, second and third positions, while the best performance award therefore went to Lagos with 1st, Kano 2nd, Kwara 3rd, FCT 4th and Bauchi 5th positions respectively.
He said, “But following the incidents of controlled substances involving Kwara State Pilgrims and the Demonstration by Kano State Pilgrims which occurred in Saudi Arabia, the two States were disqualified and their position conceded to the fourth and fifth, hence Lagos come first in the overall performance, FCT, second and Bauchi third position respectively.
“In the tour operators category, Comerel Travel and Tours came first, Al-Hujjaj Travel and Tours second, while Target Travel and Tours came third in the series,” Mana said.
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