Ogun gets 1,353 slots for 2017 hajj

The Ogun State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board says necessary machinery is being set in motion towards ensuring that it maximises the opportunity of the 1,353 slots allocated to it by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for the 2017 Holy Pilgrimage to Makkah and Medinah.

The Board Chairman, Dr. Ishaq Yusuf, who disclosed this in Abeokuta explained that the increment would give room for the board to accommodate more intending pilgrims from the state as against the previous years.

Yusuf said, the increase in the allocation was not by accident, but was as a result of the decision by the Saudi Arabia Authorities to restore the 20 percent global allocation that had been slashed in 2013, adding that Nigeria’s allocation was reduced from 95,000 to 76,000 due to the on-going renovation   at the Grand Mosque and other sites in the country as at that period.

“The pilgrims can now heave a sigh of relief since the State’s slot has been increased from 1,095 to 1,353. The management of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has assured that the facilities and transport services of the country have been upgraded to meet the needs of the pilgrims across the world”, Yusuf said.

He advised all intending pilgrims to visit the Board’s headquarters, at Block B, Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta for purchase of the 2017 hajj form, emphasising that those who had already obtained the form could begin payment of their hajj fares between now and  March 31, 2017 in four installments.

The Board Chairman, said other payments to be made are N4,500 for laboratory test to ascertain their health conditions and N3,000 for insurance respectively, assuring pilgrims of all-inclusive services as the board had secured an accommodation very close to the Holy Mosque in Makkah and Medinah.