The Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Malam Jalal Arabi, has announced that preparations for the 2025 Hajj have started.
The Assistant Director of Public Affairs for NAHCON, Mrs. Fatima Sanda-Usara, stated on Tuesday that Arabi shared this news while bidding farewell to the last group of Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
Arabi expressed optimism that the commission would achieve greater success in the 2025 Hajj based on the “lessons learned this year.”
He also expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah for the successful completion of the 2024 Hajj return journey.
Arabi praised stakeholders for their cooperation and thanked the pilgrims for praying for their leaders at both the Federal and State levels.
He encouraged the pilgrims to continue praying for the success of their leaders and to maintain good conduct.
Arabi described the accomplishments of the 2024 Hajj as a promise fulfilled.
He reported that during the first phase of the 2024 Hajj operation, NAHCON conducted a total of 121 flights, which had been reduced to 119 flights for the return journey.
The reduction in flights was due to the maximum utilization of seats during the return journeys.
Arabi said, “The return journey ends three days ahead of schedule, being earlier planned to end by July 19.”
“The commission’s chartered airlines took 27 days to transport all the pilgrims into the Kingdom during the first phase of the Hajj journey, with the return phase now lasting 25 days.”
“By the 25th day of the outbound flight from Nigeria, a total of 47,171 pilgrims were transported, while 50,091 were able to return to Nigeria within the same span of 25 days in the second phase.” (NAN)
