The Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture and the Amirul Hajj, AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef, has appraised the performance of this year’s Hajj; thus, attributing the success recorded to the appointment of an Amirul Hajj, who has full knowledge of the Quran.
While speaking after the completion of Arafat exercise and the throwing of pebbles in Muna, he said that this time, his appointment was not just given for the sake of honouring somebody but to a professional, who knows the nitty-gritty of his job.
Speaking further, the commissioner, who doubles as Amirul Haj, said, “We are here today to give thanks to Almighty Allah because this time last year, we were all in a sober mood. Although, nobody from Lagos State was involved in the accident, those that were involved were also our people.”
In welcoming the National Hajj Commission to the programme, he said, “I once again welcome and sincerely appreciate your work in taking care of those performing their Haj exercise.
We have a federal and responsible system of government, which entails the success of the state. That’s why in terms of compliance, Lagos always occupy the first place. There are some of our unique selling points, which we adopted from NAHCON.”
The Commissioner said that the Haj exercise was not a ceremonial exercise but a spiritual one meant to be observed the way we perform our solat, zakat and fasting, being the fifth pillar of Islam. That is why the leadership of Governor Ambode, being a Christian himself, made sure that even under his administration, his state contingent emerges the first in terms of welfare, comfort and safety. According to him, “An unprecedented enlightenment programme was organized to lecture people because some people have not fulfilled the first four pillars of Islam and it was held in four local governments in Lagos,” he stated.
Further praising the efforts of Lagos State, the commissioner said, “In terms of orderliness, Lagos State came first and NAHCON could testify to that. I praise the pilgrims for keeping up the good works and for being diligent.
This year’s Haj exercise is different because someone, who has full knowledge of the Qur’an was chosen to lead the pilgrims. We also facilitated the movement of the pilgrims by putting up posters to help the aged and the sick among them. We also ensured that there was a lecture given to pilgrims in their houses. There was first aid unit to make sure that the pilgrims were well taken care of to ensure smooth Haj exercise.”
In addition, he said, “There were road sign boards that could lead pilgrims that have lost their way to the tent. One very fundamental thing that Lagos was willing to maintain was that year in, year out, in spite of the falling value of the Naira, we would book for nothing but tent B. But one challenge I would throw to NAHCON is to get to tent A, because it is not religious for pilgrims to be far away from Jamarat.
Out of thirty six (36) states, only Lagos State maintains tent B plus.” He urged NAHCON to plead with the Saudi Arabia committee to give those that paid for tent B to enjoy the service they paid for.