By Out Correspondent<\/p>\n
A faith-based civil society organisation, CSO, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, state pilgrims\u2019 welfare boards and tour operators to urgently reconfigure their pilgrims\u2019 enlightenment programmes to reflect new realities ahead of the 2027 Hajj.<\/p>\n
The group maintained that the current focus on spiritual tutoring alone is no longer enough, and warned that ignorance of Saudi Arabia\u2019s laws and regulations now carries serious consequences for Nigerian pilgrims.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Friday, signed by its National Coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad, IHR urged NAHCON to introduce a mandatory and standardised pilgrims\u2019 enlightenment curriculum for all states and licensed tour operators.<\/p>\n
IHR said enlightenment must go beyond Hajj rites to include practical information on registration, timelines, health, security and legal compliance in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\u201cPilgrims\u2019 enlightenment and education goes beyond spiritual tutoring about Hajj rites and religious rituals as they are being taught at present,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n
It proposed that the curriculum should cover updated pilgrims\u2019 registration procedures and Hajj timelines; travel and security guidelines; prohibited activities in Saudi Arabia; regulations on carriage of prescription and controlled medications; pilgrims\u2019 rights, privileges and responsibilities; and appropriate conduct during Hajj<\/p>\n
The group specifically flagged Saudi regulations on medications, noting that pilgrims travelling with prescription and controlled drugs must be taught about requirements for electronic clearance and prior approval from Saudi authorities.<\/p>\n
IHR also demanded clear lessons on Saudi Arabia\u2019s strict ban on political and sectarian activities at the holy sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cStates and tour operators should ensure that pilgrims are adequately enlightened that Saudi Arabia maintains strict restrictions on political and sectarian activities at the holy sites during Hajj.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitical flags, sectarian banners, slogans, chants and other forms of political expression are prohibited. Pilgrims must understand that participation in or display of such materials could attract serious consequences under Saudi regulations,\u201d IHR warned.<\/p>\n
It further advised NAHCON to include spiritual guidance against violence, photography and videography while performing Hajj rites.<\/p>\n
The organisation said effective pilgrims\u2019 education should be treated as a core component of Hajj preparation, not a routine religious lecture.<\/p>\n
It urged NAHCON to work with state boards, tour operators, religious scholars, security agencies and other stakeholders to develop a comprehensive framework ahead of 2027.<\/p>\n
IHR said the goal is to ensure Nigerian pilgrims are not only spiritually prepared, but also sufficiently informed about the legal, security, health, administrative and behavioural requirements governing the pilgrimage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Out Correspondent A faith-based civil society organisation, CSO, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, state pilgrims\u2019 welfare boards and tour operators to urgently reconfigure their pilgrims\u2019 enlightenment programmes to reflect new realities ahead of the 2027 Hajj. The group maintained that the current focus on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17191,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17190\/revisions\/17191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}