Saudi Authorities reduce Nigeria's Hajj quota

Aviation Nigeria

National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said Saudi authorities have reduced Nigeria’s hajj seats from 95,000 to 76,000.

Spokesman of the commission Alhaji Uba Mana stated that the reduction does not affect Nigeria alone as it is a worldwide issue. He also confirmed that Saudi authorities have slashed the total number of pilgrims from all over the world for this year’s hajj by 20 percent.

Uba said, the Saudi authorities, in a letter sent to the commission, pointed out that the measures being taken were due to the ongoing construction works at the Holy Mosque in Mecca, which may not be completed before the 2013 hajj season.

The commission called on states pilgrims’ welfare boards, hajj agencies and other stake-holders to affect the changes as it was made to provide comfort to the pilgrims from all over the world.

Consequently, the commission said the 95, 000 seats allocated to Nigeria has now scaled down to 76,000 pilgrims. The cost of securing a visa to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj this Ramadan could also go for more than N300,000 as against the N85,000 charged in previous years.

Pilgrim authorities anticipate the slash in number of pilgrims will begin this Ramadan and more than half the number of intending pilgrims from Nigeria may not secure visas for the coming Umrah.

Saudi Hajj Minister, Dr Bandar Al-Hajjar, has said slots have been distributed to cover the whole year.

“The companies should use the visas granted to them on time and should not hold them to be used in one month,” he said.

Under the new arrangement, according to the minister, the visas will be granted on a monthly basis, and the companies are expected to use them the same month.“If the visas are not used during the same month, they will be cancelled,” the minister warned.