2024 Hajj: NAHCON, Saudi coy sign pact on hitch-free exercise
By Omeiza Bilal
Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Malam Jalal Ahmad Arabi, Monday, signed the Hajj 2024 agreement with Ithraa Al Khair company, at the Hilton Convention Hotel, Jabal Umar, Makkah.
The agreement contains details of service delivery expected from the group and the cost of each service along with penalties in case of violation by any party.
This followed a careful survey of packages offered by other Mutawwif companies that met with the NAHCON team and others during the just concluded Hajj and Umrah exhibition.
Signing the agreement alongside the chairman of the Ithraa Mutawwif Company, Dr Ahmad Sindhi, Arabi cautioned officials of the company to discharge their responsibilities to the pilgrims with all sincerity as contained in the pact.
He stressed that NAHCON would be involved fully in monitoring service provision from implementation of agreement to the end of execution.
The NAHCON helmsman expressed that this was time to start the relationship afresh between NAHCON and the company on fresh terms built on trust.
He then called on Dr Sindhi to make sure the errors that happened in the past do not happen again.
Responding, Dr Sindhi promised to continue with an open line of communication to fix any problem immediately before it escalated.
He assured of the company’s readiness for teamwork with the singular objective of serving pilgrims well.
In addition, he explained that working with NAHCON along the years had made them smarter and better that put them in a position to always improve.
He said: “Tawafa establishments are a key part of the modern Hajj operations. Beginning from time immemorial, Mutawwif job used to be a hereditary responsibility to pilgrims at a time when pilgrims used to stay in Makkah for months before commencement of Hajj proper.”
In a related development, countries with large number of pilgrims have been mandated to sign the Tafweej (group movement) Memorandum of Understanding.
The MoU provides a framework that each country must align itself with on Saudi Arabia’s system of moving pilgrims in groups especially during the five Hajj days. The Secretary to the Commission Dr Rabi’u Abdullahi Kontagora signed the Mou on behalf of the Commission.
