By DEJI ABDULWAHAB

National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has secured 52,544 spaces for state pilgrims camps and reserved 16,263 slots for tour operators to enable Nigerian pilgrims perform 2025 Hajj rites in Saudi Arabia.

Hajia Fatima Usara, Assistant Director, NAHCON Information and Publications Division, disclosed this in her publication titled “NAHCON always in the Media: Understanding the Spotlight – With 2025 Hajj Update” in Abuja.

Usara said NAHCON, under the leadership of Prof. Abdullahi Usman, secured the spaces by paying upfront on behalf of states’ pilgrims’ boards and private tour operators to ensure that Nigerian pilgrims did not miss out.

“As a reminder, NAHCON had secured 52,544 spaces for State Pilgrims Camps.

“Under the new contract, the projected number of pilgrims is split between two service providers as follows

“Mashariq Dhahabiah will cater to 26,287 pilgrims, while Ekram Deif will accommodate 26,257 Nigerian pilgrims expected to complete their registration by a soon-to-be-confirmed date.

“Meanwhile, Rawaf Mina is expected to confirm the availability of 100 VIP tents,’’ she said.

Usara said that Usman leveraged the lifeline given by the Saudi authorities to accommodate more Nigerian pilgrims that habitually make late remittances yet put pressure on NAHCON for Hajj slots.

She said that NAHCON reserved 16,263 spaces for tour operators to process after remittances.

1,447 VIP slots will be processed through Ithraa Al Joud, while Rawaf Mina will supply 35 VIP camps for processing.

“This brings the total expected VIP spaces for the private sector to 1,482, pending pilgrim payments.

“For Tour Operator’s Tent ‘D’, Rawaf Mina has reserved 14,413 spaces, which will be allocated after remittances. Ithraa Al Joud will provide an additional 1,850 accordingly, ” she said.

The NAHCON spokesperson urged journalists to uphold the principles of fairness and balance in their reporting, especially on Hajj matters that involve multiple stakeholders. (NAN)