Gov. Abiodun welcomes Ogun pilgrims back from Hajj

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has commended pilgrims from the State, who successfully completed this year’s Hajj for making the Gateway state proud, describing them as worthy ambassadors.

The first batch of the State’s 934 pilgrims to this year’s annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia started arriving today, while others are expected on Wednesday, June 26.

Abiodun, in a statement on Tuesday, described their stay in the Holy Land as worthwhile as it was in fulfilment of one of the five pillars of the Islamic religion.

He praised the pilgrims for their peaceful conduct, adding that Ogun State did not suffer any casualty, despite the huge number of deaths recorded this year.

He called on the pilgrims to let the spiritual journey strengthen their faith and connection to the Islamic tenets.

“On behalf of the good people of Ogun State, I welcome our dear pilgrims back home. Your successful completion of the Hajj is a testament to your devotion and commitment to your faith. We are proud of you and grateful for your safe return.

“Our government is ready to continue providing logistics support to our pilgrims for seamless and spiritually enriching experiences during the Hajj,” he said.

It would be recalled that Prince Abiodun paid the shortfall of N119,560,712.70 in the pilgrims Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) as a result of unexpected vagaries in the foreign exchange rates.

While NAHCON used N1,252.01 per dollar to calculate hajj fare (BTA inclusive) to give $500 as BTA to each pilgrim, the CBN released BTA at N1,530.86 per dollar, which gave each pilgrim $415 instead of $500 earlier proposed.

Going by this development and in order to give each pilgrim $500 at the new exchange rate of N1,530.86 per dollar, the differential to be paid for the State’s 934 pilgrims stood at N119,560,712.70.