By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has charged Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, who is the leader of the federal government’s delegation for this year’s Hajj, to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
The governor stated this yesterday in Minna in a congratulatory message issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, on the appointment of the royal father as this year’s Amirul Hajj.
He appealed to him to use his vast knowledge and wealth of experience to ensure effective performance of this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Bello urged the Amirul Hajj to ensure that the high performance in standard already attained by the country was maintained.
He said the federal and state governments had provided the necessary support for the success of the exercise, adding that the Amirul Hajj must ensure that anticipated challenges were addressed ahead of time to arrest situations that were likely to threaten or even nullify the religious obligation of the pilgrims.
He said: “Your knowledge and wealth of experience will come to play on this new responsibility. Each year comes with its challenges. These challenges should be anticipated based on learnt lessons, and appropriate steps taken to address them.”
While wishing the Etsu Nupe success and Allah’s guidance in the discharge of his new task, the governor called on him to work closely with other members of his team and the Nigerian Hajj Commission to ensure that cases of defection were recorded from the country.
The Governor, mindful of the global security challenges, reminded the Amirul Hajj of the need to enlighten the pilgrims to be security conscious and to remain ‘closely knitted’ to avoid the disappearance of pilgrims.
