Eko Hot Blog reports that National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has urged state pilgrim welfare boards to collect 4.5 million naira as deposits from 2024 hajj pilgrims.
Speaking after a meeting with chairmen and executive secretaries for the state’s pilgrim board on Tuesday in Abuja, the Chairman of NAHCON, Zikrullah Hassan, said the fare for the next hajj would be expensive due to the unification of foreign exchange by the federal government.
Hassan noted that with the dollar currently at N750, the commission is not certain what the price for pilgrims would be owing to the fluctuation of forex.
He said the deposit might change depending on the performance of the naira.
The price for the 2023 hajj was N2.8 million when the exchange rate was N450 to the dollar.
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Hassan said the 2024 hajj would be more expensive because the federal government has stopped giving pilgrims a concessionary rate for the dollar.
He urged intending pilgrims to start saving money now so that they can afford the hajj fare.
He also said NAHCON is working with the government to find ways to reduce the cost of hajj.
Some stakeholders have expressed concern that the high cost of hajj will make it difficult for many people to perform the pilgrimage.
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However, Hassan said hajj is not compulsory and that people should only go if they can afford it.
He said, “Hajj is a spiritual exercise and it should not be done under duress.”
He also said that people who cannot afford hajj can still earn the reward of hajj by having good intentions.
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