BEING AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF INDEPENDENT HAJJ REPORTERS DURING A COURTESY CALL ON FCT MUSLIM PILGRIMS BOARD ON 17TH OF SEPTEMBER 2020
Assalaimu Alaikum
The Executive Director,
FCT Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board,
Mallam Muhammad Nasiru Danmallam
Other Management staff here present,
Gentlemen of the press.
First, we give thanks to Almighty Allah who made it possible for us to witness this gathering of like minds within the Hajj operation family. This courtesy visit was at the request of Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), a registered non-governmental organization that monitors and reports on Hajj activities both in Nigeria and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), is a registered Non-Governmental Organisation comprising of Muslim journalists who seek to enlighten Nigerian pilgrims on how to perform this most important pillar of Islam. We are also the publishers of the first online Hajj/Umrah dedicated news platform (www.hajjreporters.com).
We are here this afternoon to pay a courtesy call on FCT Muslim Pilgrims Board and to formally congratulate the New Director of the board Mallam Muhammad Nasiru Danmallam and other board members.
Sir, you are welcome to the Hajj family. It is an area that demands hard work, perseverance, dedication and utmost honesty.
We have noticed your time consciousness attributes during the Hajj Reporters 2019 Hajj Award ceremony. You are the first to arrived Stone Hedge Hotel at exactly 9 am even though you are a newly appointed DG of the board. Hajj is about Arafat and Arafat is fixated thus every planning in hajj revolves around keeping time.
We hope that you will sustain this leadership attribute.
Our visit today is in tandem with IHR objectives of partnering with stakeholders especially in the areas of pilgrims enlightenment and education.
Hajj operations as we know it before will not, and may never remain the same again due to COVID 19. While the Manasik of hajj will hardly be altered, the operating system in terms of arrangement, movements, accommodations, protocols, guidelines will be restructured especially if we consider the Hajj 2020 template used by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Given the above, it is imperative for us to seek a partnership with FCT pilgrims’ boards to enlighten and educate Hajj 2020 intending pilgrims and to organize a capacity building workshop for its operating staff.
Sir, FCT is an epicentre of Hajj operations in Nigeria due to the calibre of pilgrims that performed hajj through the board. Despite the challenge of dealing with high profile pilgrims, the board has excelled in the areas of service delivery.
This culminated in operational awards bestowed on the board from NAHCON and the Independent Hajj Reporters. Those recognitions are products of commitment and dedication of your staffs.
Sir, to sustain this tempo, the board need to engage in capacity building for its staff, training and retraining of operational staff for them to be in tune with emerging challenges in hajj operations. Developed an Information communication technology-based capacity because Saudi Arabia has now converted the entire hajj activities online.
Let me used this opportunity to inform this gathering that Independent Hajj Reporters is in partnership with some Hajj/Umrah reporting media establishment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This partnership grants us exclusive rights to some developing Hajj and Umrah stories.
Sir, Hajj Reporters has assumed the role of number one medium in the reporting and dissemination of hajj and Umrah information to the public. Hundreds of thousands of people visited our online news platform to source for hajj stories within the Hajj and Umrah industry.
Comparatively, Hajj Reporters may not be in competitions with other media when it comes to news and stories in politics; but when it comes to Hajj and Umrah Industry, people rely on Hajj Reporters. We published developments, news, stories emanating from your board round the clock.
Given the above, IHR is seeking partnership with the board to develop a new hajj education/enlightenment structure and to organize capacity building workshops for the board.
As a Hajj media organ, IHR needs the support of your board in terms of promotions, adverts to sustain its activities.
While we congratulate the newly appointed board members and other management staff, we hope the board will strive hard to meet the expectation of pilgrims in the ways of best service delivery as we pray for a COVID 19 free Hajj in 2021.
We thank you for listening.
