Ahead of the 2023 hajj inaugural flight slated for 25th May, an advance team of 31 National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) officials have departed for Saudi Arabia from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
The team according to a statement by NAHCON deputy director,
Information & Publications, Mousa Ubandawaki, is made up of 21 NAHCON officials and 10 medical personnel departed Nigeria for Saudi Arabia Sunday.
It will receive the first set of Nigerian pilgrims from Nassarawa state who would be arrive the Kingdom on Thursday 25th May for the 2023 Holy Pilgrimage.
The statement said the team is to organise and coordinate the reception, accommodation, feeding and transportation, health and general welfare of the pilgrims in the Holy Land throughout the hajj period. It is led by the deputy director, Training, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.
At a brief farewell ceremony held at the Hajj House before their departure to the Holy Land, the chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, described hajj as a global issue whose aim is to establish unity among the Ummah.
He enjoined the officials to take their job seriously by identifying the best goals and methods to achieve success in their assignments which is for the pilgrims to enjoy value for money and obtain Hajj Mabrur.
“You must be diligent, committed, vigilant and particularly, you must have patience and act in the right manner at all times, so that at the end, you can achieve the benefit of here and the hereafter,” he said.
The statement reads in part: “The chairman said in spite of the challenge posed by the Sudan military crises, the commission was able to fulfill its promise and it is on course to ensure that the inaugural flight set for Thursday 25th May remain sacrosanct.”
