This year’s Hajj was peculiar, and was conducted at a very critical moment – barely one month of the appointment of Dr. Yusuf Arrigasiyyu as the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency.
Kaduna state was fortunately granted the highest number of seats/slots for pilgrimage by the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON). 2,600 slots were allocated to Kaduna state.
This year’s Hajj exercise entailef a painstaking effort for its smooth Hajj operation. This was because of the obvious complicated atmosphere that engulfed the operation. They include insecurity and reabsorbing of the vast number of intending pilgrims; who couldn’t participate in the 2020 Hajj, as a result of the “Covid 19” pandemic, due to population restrictions by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The most pivotal exercise in Hajj operation is the airlift of the intending pilgrims. Consequently, the insecurity like kidnapping and banditry ravaging Kaduna, almost impeded the airlift of the intending pilgrims in the state. There were speculations that the Kaduna pilgrims will be airlifted in Kano, not in Kaduna,because of the security threat in the state.
Fortunately, that plan was resisted through the administrative ingenuity of Dr. Yusuf Arrigasiyyu, who ensured that the intending pilgrims were airlifted from Kaduna, despite the frightening and widespread rumour on the procrastination and disinclination to truncate the operation in Kaduna.
Unfortunately, there are some states that were heavily entangled with slots/visa racketeering, resulting to the massive defrauding of the intending pilgrims, under the pretext of seat allocation. But happily we didn’t witness this criminal situation in Kaduna state. That’s why I eulogised the appointment Dr. Arrigasiyyu as worthy in my previous article.
I had said in the article that as the anti-corruption crusader heads Kaduna Pilgrims Welfare agency, corruption has no shelter in the pilgrims sgency, and more swindling on the intending pilgrims.
In truth, Kaduna state will be used as a reference point in the 2022 Hajj operations in Nigeria, with the assumption of Dr. Arrigasiyyu as the head of the pilgrims sgency.
In some states, lack of processing sufficient visa by the concerned authorities, left hundreds of the intending pilgrims grounded, without participating in this year’s Hajj. But luckily in Kaduna state, despite the complications, only 100 intending pilgrims were left behind. Unlike other states were thousands were left stranded.
Indeed, Dr. Arrigasiyyu is a goal accomplisher who always by the book, strives effectively to provide an excellent result, whenever he’s assigned with any task.
Jabir T Usman,
Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada,
Kaduna
