The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said the screening of airlines for this year’s Hajj operation will begin in the first week of March.
NAHCON Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zikrullah Hassan said this at an interactive session with reporters yesterday in Abuja.
Hassan said the aim of the interactive session with the media was to foster a deeper understanding of the workings of the commission by the media professionals.
The chairman said the commission was working assiduously to ensure that this year’s Hajj operation was conducted smoothly to enable the Nigerian pilgrims perform an acceptable holy pilgrimage.
He said: “You are aware that 95,000 seats have been given to the NAHCON, and I must also tell you that we have gone to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for our first pre-hajj visit in order to familiarise and screen service providers.
“We have already allocated hajj slots to the 36 states of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the Armed Forces.
“We are in the process of doing so many other things after which we will have another media interface.
“We intend to start screening the airline by the first week of March. I can assure you that this year’s hajj will be hitch-free.
“This year, the coast is very clear, by God’s grace.”
In his goodwill message, NAHCON’s Commissioner of Operation, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji-Hardawa, said that the commission was determined to satisfy the expectations of the Nigerian pilgrims for this year’s hajj.
He said that the leadership of the commission was always open to suggestions and prepared to answer questions from the media as credible partners of the commission.
The commissioner in charge of Operations, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji Hardawa, urged the media to keep on the good works as they are the ones in the public domain who serve as the image makers of the commission.
Hardawa also said the media should continue to support the commission on order to achieve the 2023 hajj operations.
Prince Suleiman Momoh who is the commissioner of Planning, research, information, statistics and Library sciences (PRSILS) also commended the media as partners of the commission.
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