Ahead of the 2021 Hajj pilgrimage, Lagos State Government has assured thousands of intending pilgrims of a hitch-free COVID-19 vaccination exercise and other protocols set for travellers before their airlifting to Saudi Arabia for the religious rites.
The state government said that machinery has been put in place to ensure that all Intending Pilgrims from Lagos receive their COVID-19 vaccine and meet all necessary guidelines set for travellers before embarking on the journey to the holy land.
Assuring the intending pilgrims of the state government plans, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, said that, although, the vaccines received may not be the number expected but the the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would do everything humanly possible to ensure that each of the intending pilgrims is vaccinated
Elegushi gave the assurance yesterday at a training programme organised by the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board for its Schedule Officers, Ulamah and Hajj Guides in Ikeja.
Speaking further on the theme: ‘Way forward for year 2021 Hajj Operation and Preparation’, Elegushi urged the participants to see their appointment as Schedule Officers, Ulamah and Hajj Guides as a call to the service of Allah and trust for which they would be held accountable by God on the day of judgement.
He urged the participants to be good ambassadors for the State and carry out the assignment given them to the best of their ability,
The commissioner said that the participants are faced with a very sensitive assignment of seeing to the welfare of the intending pilgrims both in Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and they have no alternative but to deliver satisfactorily.
While calling for synergy and harmonious working relationship between the participants, he reiterated that the training became imperative because the State is not ready to jeopardize it’s enviable position as the best state in Hajj operation, saying only teamwork and commitment to efficient and effective service delivery to the intending pilgrims would sustain the State’s leadership position.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rahman Ishola, expressed his appreciation to Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat for their unflinching support to the Board.
He added that with their support, the Board is poised to successfully implement the administration’s policy of providing a seamless Hajj experience for all its intending pilgrims irrespective of tribe, class and educational background.
Facilitators at the well-attended training programme included the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Islamic Matters, Jebe-Abdullai Ahmad, who gave a lecture on the topic ‘Relationship between the Schedule Officers, Ulamah and Intending Pilgrims’.
Others are Dr. Mutiu Afariogun, a Consultant Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgeon at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) who presented a paper on ‘How to manage Stress’ and Awe Jamiu, a Chief Administrative and Human Resource officer with the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency who presented a paper on ‘Hajj Overview’.
