- Photo L-R: Alhaji Hassan welcoming Governor Ganduje to Hajj House on Wednesday*
Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has requested additional hajj slots for the state. He made the request on Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
Governor Ganduje who was received by the Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan said he was at Hajj House, Abuja to make a request and to exchange pleasantries. The governor was accompanied in the visit by the Executive Secretary, Kano State Pilgrims’ Welfare Board, Alhaji Muhammad Abba Dambatta, Alhaji Idris Abdullahi Dawakin Tofa, the Permanent Secretary, Protocol Directorate; and S. AbdulHadi, Liaison Officer, Kano State Government House, Abuja.
NAHCON Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Hajia Fatima Sanda Usara, in a statement quoted the governor as requesting for additional slots for his state ” if by chance there is any available.” Kano State has 2,229 seats for the 2022 Hajj.
Slots for other states are: Kaduna -2,491 seats; Sokoto – 2,404; Niger 2, 256; Katsina 2,146 and Kebbi has 2,128. Lagos has 1,562, Oyo 629, Ogun 497, Osun 460, Ondo 191 while Ekiti got 86 seats. Edo got 91, Ebonyi 51, Cross Rivers 29, Delta 19, Anambra 17, Enugu 13 and Abia received six seats. Four states have zero allocation. They are Akwa Ibom, Imo, Bayelsa and Rivers states.
Alhaji Umar Ganduje lauded NAHCON Chairman for many initiatives among which is the take-off of the Hajj Savings Scheme (HSS), designed to aid low-income earners and others in paying gradually for a chance to perform Hajj. He said Kano state had embraced the scheme right from the start, reason why an enabling environment was created for its success in the state.
He thanked NAHCON for the functional Hajj clinic built in Kano which the government helped to furnish. Governor Ganduje also appreciated the excellent relationship his government is enjoying with NAHCON as well as between NAHCON and other state governments.
He reminded Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan that work on the NAHCON hotel in the state has stopped, a situation which he said might incur additional cost due to constant rise in the prices of building materials. He therefore called for urgent action on the matter.
Alhaj Hassan welcomed the Governor in the Hajj House, describing it as historical. He asserted that the governor was the greatest supporter of the HSS and described the governor as receptive to NAHCON leadership. The NAHCON Chairman declared that Kano was the first state where the Commission’s Public Private Partnership scheme begun successfully and thanked the governor for that.
Alhaji Hassan also described Kano as important to NAHCON, promising to assist Kano with its requests out of respect for the state.
Regarding halting of the hotel project, the NAHCON Chairman blamed financial constraints for the stoppage.
Other dignitaries present in the event were NAHCON’s three permanent commissioners and directors of the commission.