The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Hadeija have called for reforms within the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) to address the issues of financial mismanagement, negligence, maltreatment of pilgrims and late preparation for the pilgrimage exercises.
The Presidency officials made these remarks during a fact-finding visit to NAHCON headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday as part of their engagement with government agencies under the supervision of State House.
Earlier in the day, they also visited the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), where Gbajabiamila highlighted the potential role of states in providing funding to the Agency through an insurance scheme or other means.
Addressing the challenges at NAHCON, Gbajabiamila stated that the Commission should not be found in any controversy, simply because of its mandate and what it represents.
”It’s a religious commission. It’s a commission that is set up to fulfill religious and spiritual obligations for men and women of faith.”
Regarding the recent controversy in the Commission that led to the appointment of a new Executive Chairman, Gbajabiamila urged the Management staff to work closely with the Office of the Vice President, which oversees the agency, to identify past mistakes, make corrections and ensure seamless operations for pilgrims.
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The Deputy Chief of Staff echoed the Chief of Staff’s position, emphasizing the need for early preparation for Hajj operations. He said “The Hajj Commission also needs to be more transparent in informing pilgrims what they are paying for,”.
In his remarks, Abdulrazak, NAHCON’s Executive Commissioner, Policy, Personnel Management and Finance, called for an overhaul of the Commission’s accounting system and improvement of federal character representation within the organization.
At NEMA, the Chief of Staff stressed the need to shift disaster management in Nigeria from a reactive to a proactive approach.
Emphasizing the importance of prevention over mitigation, Gbajabiamila noted that many disasters in the country could be avoided with better preparation and early warnings.
On funding challenges in NEMA, Gbajabiamila suggested exploring creative funding methods, including state contributions through an insurance scheme.
On the operations of NEMA, the Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, disclosed that from January 2024 to date, the agency has provided 626,000 essential relief items to over 100,000 people across 33 States and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to her, these include 288,875 food items, over 300,000 non-food items, over 26,000 building materials.
On the distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains approved by the President, the Director-General said the grains have been distributed to all the states of the federation except Akwa Ibom and Osun.
(Editor : Ena Agbanoma)
