NAHCON: Zikrullah Hassan visits Minister towards ending flight suspension to Saudi Arabia
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, on Monday 17 January, 2022, paid a courtesy call on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, for the purpose of consolidating on effort by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), to end its suspension of flights from Nigeria.
KSA’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), on the 8 December 2021, announced suspension of flights from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia for reasons not actually mentioned in the circular, but generally believed to be in relation to manifestation of Omicron COVID-19 variant in Nigeria.
NAHCON), as an organization charged with responsibility of facilitating Hajj and Umrah journeys from Nigeria to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, immediately engaged in networking strategies with sister agencies for the purpose of convincing the Kingdom to end the Africa’s most populous nation’s flight suspension into its territory.
It was part of the strategies that Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, the NAHCON Chairman, paid a follow-up visit to the Nigerian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada in his office, on Monday 17 January, 2022.
In a statement issued and copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER by Fatimah Sanda Usara, Head Public Affairs Unite of the Commission, the meeting was described as one to consolidate on the initiatives already deployed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs towards ending the impasse.
The NAHCON boss commended the Ministry for its consistent push for an inroad into the matter, considering that many Muslims have paid for the ongoing Umrah pilgrimage and, traditionally, the numbers rise during Ramadan lesser Hajj.
The Chairman hopes that the suspension would be lifted in good time to enable Nigerians participate in the 2022 Hajj if it would be open for foreign pilgrims.
Speaking further, Alhaji Hassan lauded the efforts of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 towards curtailing spread of the virus, which has led to the conviction of other countries that had hitherto banned Nigeria and some Southern African countries for similar reasons to rescind their decisions.
In his response, the Minister revealed optimism on the matter as he was hopeful that a positive response would soon emanate from Saudi Arabia.
