By Usman Aliyu Buba
If every Muslim had his way, they would travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetime to perform the spiritual duty of Hajj in fulfillment of one of the five pillars of Islam. But out of all the duties that the religion of Islam has obligated the Muslims to perform, going for hajj requires much more than mere wishes. It involves a lot of funds, which only the rich can comfortably pay and which many an average Nigerian Muslim finds it difficult to raise – except by relying upon the benevolence of the state, wealthy family or relatives.
The fact remains that hajj fares are relatively high especially because of the global economic realities, which have contributed to rising inflation. During the 2019 hajj operations, the fare was put at N1.5million, but in 2022, such fare has jumped to N2.5million. You are dead sure that the fares will shoot up in the following years.
Perhaps, conscious of these realities, and to ease the chances for the average intending Nigerian pilgrims to perform hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), whose statutory responsibility is to organise and coordinate the movement of persons from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia for the performance of pilgrimage or Umrah, came up with a scheme, known as the Hajj Savings Scheme.
With the launching of the scheme in Kano in 2020 and full operation in 2022 following the granting of presidential approval, the intending pilgrims especially from states wouldn’t have to struggle too hard to pay anymore, but steadily work and save towards going to Mecca.
Because it brought with it long-awaited succour, the support for this scheme massive evidence of encouraging interests and contributions by some intending pilgrims.
In fact, as of March 2022, there were over 4,000 enrollees in the scheme and all of whom have had their accounts regularly credited with the proceeds that accrued under just one year, whereas those who had their initial deposits for the 2020 and 2021 Hajj with the State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards (SPWPBs), which by the way had been adamant against NAHCON’s directives and extant laws to remit their savings to Jaiz Bank, have yet to make such profit.
But this heartwarming story of support for and encouragement of the ordinary Nigerian Muslims intending to embark upon hajj may soon be truncated. Last week, the Senate passed for second reading a bill sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Danbaba (Sokoto South), for the suspension of the scheme, and possible domicile of its savings in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Earlier, the House of Representatives had made the same move through a motion by Aminu Ashiru Mani, from Katsina State, who argued, without any evidence, that NAHCON’s recent directives to states pilgrims’ welfare boards, agencies and commissions to migrate Hajj deposits made by the intending pilgrims to the Hajj Savings Scheme platform with Jaiz Bank could give room for corruption and lack of accountability in the scheme.
If you were taken aback by these moves by the National Assembly, you would not be alone, especially when you take into consideration, the work that NAHCON has been doing to save the intending Muslim pilgrims from the financial pressures on them to perform hajj and the national economy from the colossal sums government sinks, annually, into the sponsorship of hajj.
You would also think that this alleged move by the legislators was informed by the facts arising from their possible perusal of the books and records of NAHCON and Jaiz Bank and the discovery of clear irrefutable evidence of mismanagement, and misappropriation. But no, there is no such evidence, rather what we read was a mere expression of possible corruption.
The questions are: How does management of the intending pilgrims’ account by Jaiz Bank give rise to possible corruption? Are there genuine complaints from the subscribers of the scheme about the loss of their contributions? Now, if you end up suspending the scheme, or moving the contributions of the subscribers to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), what do the intending pilgrims stand to gain, especially given the fact that they will neither be able to receive halal alerts (interest free) of profits by the bank and growing their accounts to the level they can be financially stable to embark on this journey? Will the intending pilgrims/subscribers be able to log in details to check how their accounts are doing as they were wont?
You see, when you have an institution that has come up with a valuable scheme for some struggling souls to uplift their faith and you have no gratitude to offer for such initiative, the least you can do is to keep quiet. But this is Nigeria, where oftentimes, pecuniary interests rather than altruistic fervors provide an impetus for some vocalised actions.
At this moment, concerned stakeholders need to take a decisive stance against this needless legislative adventure before it is too late because if the National Assembly eventually has its way, it will kill the dreams of many of the indigent, struggling subscribers.
It is instructive that, already, the Council of Imams and Ulama have expressed their reservations at the manner the National Assembly is going about this issue.
It is high time that other stakeholders raised the alarm. Pressures need to be sufficiently mounted on this assembly to see reason in leaving this scheme alone, because for now, there is no clear, convincing facts for this wrongheaded move of theirs, except that the current crop of legislators is deliberately undermining the scheme either out of mischief or ignorance of its background, philosophy, goals and even operations.
I think the National Assembly should busy itself with more serious issues of governance and let those who want to perform hajj focus on how to raise halal money to do so.
Buba writes from N0.10 Kabuga Road, Kano
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