The Nigerian Hajj Media Support Team says it has investigated the contentious issue between the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and Mashariq Al-Dhahabiah, a Saudi-based service provider company.
Mashariqi Al-Dhahabiah was the firm officially engaged by NAHCON to serve Nigerian pilgrims from states for the 2025 Hajj.
The engagement took place on the sidelines of the Hajj 2025 Expo, where NAHCON Chairman, Prof. Abdullahi Saleh Usman, led the Nigerian delegation.
National Coordinator of the Nigerian Hajj Media Support Team, Ibrahim Abubakar Nagarta, said their findings revealed that Mashariqi Al-Dhahabiah had unresolved official issues with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
Nagarta said NAHCON later learnt about the unresolved issues, which made it review its contractual engagement with Mashariqi Al-Dhahabiah in order to ensure a smooth Hajj experience for Nigerian pilgrims.
“The NAHCON leadership under Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman gave Mashariq Al- Dhahabiah the grace of some days to settle its administrative flaws with the Saudi Ministry for Hajj and Umrah, which serves as regulatory body for all service providers, but unfortunately, it took the company in question almost a fortnight before it reported back to NAHCON, that it has resolved all its bottlenecks with the appropriate authorities,” Nagarta said in his statement obtained by Muslim News.
“Again, it is a known fact that not only NAHCON but any serious hajj commissions, agencies or ministries as the case may be the world over, will not dare take the risk of any delay in contracting the right and qualified service provider at the right time in order to beat the deadline that has been set, by the Ministry of hajj and Umrah in Saudi, as such the NAHCON Chairman in his astuteness, wisdom and considerate nature swiftly took proactive steps to forestall unnecessary delay that could lead to an embarrassing failure, which may affect the smoothness of 2025 hajj exercise, hence, the National Hajj Commission’s decision to split the contract in the ratio of 50-50 with another Saudi-based service provider, in order to secure cost-effective and premium services for Nigerian Pilgrims before it was late,” he added.
The Nigerian Hajj Media Support Team advised journalists to embrace key ethics of the profession, especially fairness and balancing, in issues affecting two or more parties.
“The Nigerian Hajj Media Support Team is at this juncture, therefore, advising those journalists who are of the habit of overlooking or rather contravening the cardinal principle of balancing and fairness in journalism to have a rethink and embrace this key ethical consideration in the course of discharging their duties as professionals, particularly when two or more parties are involved in an issue before quickly going to press,” the statement read.
Sponsored
