… Rejects continuous use of service provider that failed them yearly
Association for Haji and Umrah Operators of Nigeria , AHOUN , has called for amendment of the National Haji Commission Act , NAHCO Act 2006, to resolve the perennial challenges bedeviling Nigerians priglimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Participants at AHOUN Zonal conference held in Abuja on Wednesday were unanimous that some of the provisions of NAHCO Act 2006 were overdue for a total overhaul if Nigeria Haji must catch up with the rest of the progressive Muslim world.
Precisely, the Act came into effect 18 years after the Nigerian Pilgrims Commission Act of 1989 was repealed, the tour operators are questioning the composition of the Commission and provisions which they said are hindering the smooth operations of Haji.
Speaking at the conference in a paper titled: “Hajj Reform As It Affects Private Tour Operators In Nigeria,” Barr. Babangida Umar said that section 3 of NAHCO Act 2006 should be amended to accommodate tour operators.
According to him: “Travel Agencies ( Tour Operators/State Pilgrims welfare Agencies) are not specifically represented on the Board of NAHCO. There is a compelling case for amending Section 3 to admit the representatives of Travel.Agencies since they generate 100 percent of the pilgrims and revenue.”
He also said the amendment sought should address ambiguities and current gaps in the law including its inconsistencies with the provisions of the CBN Act/ BOFIA.
Umar said that NAHCO should be encouraged to focus on its core mandate: Policy, Regulation ,Consular, health and Licensing functions while working in conjunction with relevant agencies to develop guidelines to create enabling environment for Travel Agencies to handle Air and Land transportation and accommodation of pilgrims as empowered by section 16 of the Act.
AHOUN also want NAHCON to discontinue the current practice where is functioning both as a Regulator and Operator on the basis of the transitional provisions of section 23 of the Act, among other amendments sought.
AHOUN has also rejected the continue use of a company service provider based in Saudi Arabia that have yearly failed to provide satisfactory services for pilgrims but which NAHCO continue to insist must be Nigerians service provider in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, President, Association for Haji.and Umrah Operators of Nigeria , Alhaji Abdullazeez Ekundayo in his address noted that it’s no longer news that the Hajj 2024 has been concluded on a high and low notes.
He said that like other Hajj before this, the perennial challenges of getting everything right has remain an illusion. “Starting with the disappointment of exclusion from the forex concession, the delay in releasing the services amount payable to NAHCON account, the refusal to allow direct lodgement into IBAN account at the KSA, the challenges in the processing of visas via the new E-track or Nusuk platform among others were issues beyond our control in the pre-Hajj.”
“At a point in build up to the 2024 Hajj many of us felt that the exercise may not hold incidentally, some of our members were reluctant to apply for the license while other decided to return the allocation after a successful bid and acceptance of the offer.
“Needless to mention the Hajj itself had numbers of challenges but better than what was experienced last year. The good news was that visas were processed and about 70% of the allocated quota to the tour operators performed the Hajj.
“Another important achievement of the Hajj 2024 was the commission of Flyadeal to convey our pilgrims to Hajj”,
A representative of NAHCO and Commissioner Policy, Personnel,
Management and Finance Aliu Abdulrahseek said the commission and AHOUN must sit at round table and resolve their differences for easy and seemingly future Haji Operations.
“People are complaining on the side of NAHCO and AHOUN. Let us work together to resolve these complaints and rijig our Operations,” he.said.
This is important because Saudi Arabia authorities have issues new guidelines, regulations which the commission will implement.