2017 Hajj Fare: Mr Dollar is the ‘devil’

Following the outcry that trails the announcement of 2017 hajj fare, the bi-cameral house instituted an interactive session to analyse the details of hajj cost components, with a view to unearth the reason for the rise in this year fare. Th e devil they say is always in the details. It is like operation search for ‘the devil that hides in details of 2017 hajj fare; root him out and run him down’ in the interests of pilgrims. During the interactive session, experts were invited, comparative analyses were carried out, and details of hajj fare were breakdown to the last kobo. Th is was meant to search for possible avenue to trimming down the fare. Finally, it was found that the increase in dollar to a naira is the root cause of the rise of 2017 hajj fare. Th is year, pilgrims accessed dollar at $1/362 as against $1/197 of last year. Pilgrims eagerly prayed for fall of dollar to lower the 2017 hajj fare. While the senate and House of Representatives deserved commendation for showing concern over the welfare of Nigeria pilgrims; however, many people are of the view that the proff er antidote to the fare headache may have come too late. Airlift of Nigeria pilgrims is scheduled to commence on 30th July 2017. Invariably, advance payment might have been made to hajj services providers based on the initial fare packages. I hope the government will listen to our senate and do the needful for the sake of millions of Nigeria citizens going to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj