The Director of the board, Malam Muhammed Danmallam, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
He said the welfare of Abuja pilgrims was a religious obligation that the board was charged to discharge credibly, adding that it was a win-win solution.
‘’The issue of seeing to the need of pilgrims is a religious obligation that we see as an affairs that is pleasing to Allah. When a pilgrim is assisted to perform his rites, whoever has a hand in it is rewarded by Allah.
‘’The pilgrim is a visitor of Allah exercising his duties as prescribed by Allah, so pleasing the visitor is pleasing Allah which has its own benefit,’’ he said.
Danmallam said the 2022 pilgrimage was an emergency one but the board was able to put its house in order to carry it out satisfactorily, adding that in 2023 enough time would be available to prepare.
‘’If you remember, this year, the Saudi Arabia authourity did not give a clear sign that the pilgrimage would be taking place. It was a short time that all countries had because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘’But our previous experience helped a lot in deciding our quick intervention for carrying out the exercise. The COVID-19 issue hampered most of the preparations usually done by pilgrims’ board.
‘’This was not limited to Nigerian alone. And the number of persons that performed this year’s Hajj was even less than half of what obtained previously. We made the best we could of the situation to conduct it to the glory of God,’’ he said.
Danmallam gave the assurance that all the hitches encountered in 2022 Hajj would signpost the progress that the board had noted and to be worked on in 2023.
He commended the Minister of the FCT, Muhammed Bello, and the Minister of State, FCT, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, for their support and encouragement for the success of the operation.
The FCT Muslim Pilgrim Welfare Board was created with the sole mandate to organise, coordinate and supervise the smooth and hitch-free annual Muslim pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia.
NAN
