Hajj: Stakeholder seeks amendments to NAHCON Act

By Musa Baba Adamu

A stakeholder in the Hajj and Umrah operations in the country, Barr. Mohammed Umar has advocated for amendments to some sections of the law governing the spiritual exercise.
According to him, amending some sections of the law establishing the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to define roles of Tour Operators would go along way in strengthening Hajj operations in the country.
Delivering a keynote address at a Conference organized by Association of Hajj and Umtah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON) in Abuja, Barr Umar noted that lack of explicit mention of the roles of Tour Operators was causing a lot of friction.
He said the NAHCON Act, 2006 was long overdo for reform adding that “ … some of its provisions are overdue for total overhaul if Nigeria Hajj must catch up with the rest of the progressive Muslim worlds.”
Giving example of the some the sections requiring reform, he said there was a compelling case for amending S. 3 of the Act to admit representatives of Travel Agencies since they generate 100% of the pilgrim’s revenues, adding that NAHCON would have no business without Travel Agencies.
He suggested that NAHCON, in conjunction with relevant agencies should develop guidelines and create enabling environment for Travel Agencies to handle air and land transportation and accommodations of pilgrims as envisioned in S. 16 of the Act.
He also advocated for the aligning of NAHCON licensing powers with its enabling laws, adding that he did not believe S. 16 of the Act envisages different licensing regimes for private Tour Operators and Publicly owned Travel Agencies.
On the need for system reforms, he called for the discontinuation of a regime where NAHCON is both the regulator and operator.
He said NAHCON should rather be consigned to the job of policy formulation, regulations, Consular, Health and Licensing.
He said NAHCON should strengthen its regulatory oversight through effective regulations and enforcement mechanism that is fair, consistent, predictable and acceptable to all stakeholders.
As a foremost Association of the Nigerian Hajj service providers, he called on AHUON to champion people – oriented organisational change of its members with focus of employees, customers and other stakeholders.
He noted that AHUON should only be happy when customers are happy.