Mr Muftau Okoya, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, has called on the Federal Government to sustain its support for pilgrims through foreign exchange concession.
Okoya made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He said that the support was necessary considering the shortage of foreign exchange and the prevalent high exchange rate.
“If you look at the exchange rate right now, you will agree with me that only few privileged individuals will be able to observe pilgrimage without such concession.
“I agree that religion is a private affair, but all Nigerians belong to one religion or the other, and the concession should be extended to both Muslim and Christian pilgrims.
“In 2015 and 2016, we got the dollar at N168 and N197 respectively though restricted to allowance of $1000, but that concession went a long way to help the pilgrims,” he said.
Okoya said that inspite of the harsh economic reality, the board was poised to improve on its mandate in 2017.
He urged intending pilgrims to take advantage of flexible Hajj packages by the board to begin preparation for the 2017 exercise before the April deadline.
“In 2015 we airlifted about 3,000 pilgrims, but by 2016, the figure had dropped to 2,218 due to the harsh economic reality of the time.
“We hope to increase it to 3,000 and above this year through some friendly payment packages we unveiled earlier for intending pilgrims.
“We encourage intending pilgrims to begin their documentation in earnest before the April deadline,” he said.
The executive secretary said his board was concerned about the welfare of Lagos pilgrims and would always take steps to make them comfortable.
“We try to ensure that our pilgrims feel at home as possible by providing them with local meals during the pilgrimage.
“We give them the best in terms of accommodation, feeding and general welfare, and we deliver daily lectures to build them up spiritually,” he said.
He thanked the Lagos State Government for its continuous support while assuring that the board would always live up to expectation.
“The state government has been very supportive; even recently we got a new ambulance for our pilgrims’ medical care and we are grateful to Gov. Ambode.
“We will always be good ambassadors of Lagos, striving to make the state proud at all times,” he said. (NAN)