Mal Jalal Ahmad Arabi And Hajj 2024 (2)

After they were subtly goaded into accepting Ithraa Al Khair (Mu’assasah) as their service provider in Hajj 2024, the Private Tour Operators (PTOs) faced an unprecedented problem in Mashaa’ir selection in the e-Hajj Portal. The custom had been that visas could be issued with the D Tents option and upgraded to A Tents before the Day of Tarwiyah, the eighth day of Zulhijjah, when pilgrims move out of Makkah to the Tent City of Minaa. Even with the procrastinatory nature of some of our clientele who would remain undecided on their package choice, this flexible regime of tent upgrade enabled PTOs to issue visas for their pilgrims with whatever meagre resources available in the IBAN Accounts as the A Tents payment was more expensive. In Hajj 2024, all that was radically altered: there was no upgrade option. Many did not know about this until the deadline for system closure of April 28, 2024 (Shawwal 19, 1445 AH), forced them to issue visas under D Tents since the Saudi service provider was battling with the availability of tents in the Mashaa’ir; there were no rooms but in the D Tents. It was better to issue visas for the pilgrims under D Tents or whatever arrangement than Waiting for Godot until the Hajj Portal is closed and the Hujjaaj stranded.

This simple phrase, ‘no more upgrade in Mashaa’ir,’ had grievous consequences on the operation of Hajj 2024 as it affected the A Tent pilgrims. We were told that the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (SMHU) made rooming arrangements in the Mashaa’ir according to the pilgrims’ details entered during the online Hajj visa process. Once the visa is issued, the pilgrim’s accommodation in Minaa is confirmed; no adjustment or upgrade to any camp will be entertained. Strange.

I commend how Mal Jalal Arabi, the then Chairman, handled this issue. I was in Saudi Arabia for about a month before the Hajj proper. I remained there for the entire period, but two days within which I returned to Nigeria for our pilgrim’s Induction Course only to catch another flight to Madinah before the group’s arrival on June 7 & 8, 2024 ( Zhulhijjah 1 & 2, 1445). Throughout my one-month stay in Saudia, Mal Jalal obliged my constant telephone calls, WhatsApp chats, and voice notes to solve the A Tent debacle. I was everywhere: Makkah office of the Commission, the Saudi Hajj Ministry, Ithraa Al Khair and numberless Saudi service providers.

Our initial mission as a company was to split the pilgrims into two – some with Ithraa Al Khair and the top VIPs with another Saudi service provider. So, only a fraction will be moved to another service provider, but most pilgrims remain with the Mu’assasah. When I went to the Ministry, an official of the SMHU told me that only the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) could do that because it controls the tents, payments and allocation of spaces in the Mashaa’ir. I informed the Chairman, who called back after some time and placed me on speakerphone to discuss the issue with some NAHCON staff. The meeting made it clear that NAHCON could not change the choice of tents and that we should plead with our pilgrims to accept what was available. I said we were ready to forfeit, as an additional loss, what was paid on the Hajj Portal per pilgrim for the D Tent camp (about SAR4000 = N1,680,000) and make a fresh payment for A Tent services in a different arrangement. Mal Jalal advised that I meet NAHCON representative Dr Aliyu Tanko, Head of the Hajj Saving Scheme, who was in Makkah then, to explore further possibilities. I did.

Following the Chairman’s counsel, Dr Aliyu Tanko conducted a series of meetings between the officials of Ithraa Al Khair and the SMHU. There was no headway. This hitherto easy matter of changing Minaa accommodation became impossible in Hajj 2024. As mentioned earlier, once visas were issued with D Tent, that pilgrim was pinned to a spot in Minaa. They cannot be moved to another tent through an upgrade within the system as we used to do in the past. Also, such pilgrims will not be accepted under any arrangement or be served by any other company. The only solution, according to the Hajj authorities, was to cancel the visas of pilgrims so affected, start the process of Hajj online registration from zero and make the changes if there were still rooms to accommodate the Hajjis in the desired tent. Only a senseless PTO will do. Weariness!

On Zulhijjah 3, 1445 AH (June 9, 2024), about five days before moving out of Makkah and staying in Minaa, Mal Jalal called while I was in Madinah to say that I should speak to Dr Aliyu Tanko again as a solution was found to our problem all be it an inadequate one… When I talked to him, Dr Aliyu said that Ithraa Al Khair had given about 40 slots in A Tent, of which eight were given to my company. NAHCON will distribute the remaining slots to other entities with similar problems. I politely declined to accept this offer and showed my gratitude to the Chairman and Dr Aliyu, who had toiled day and night to solve our problem.

In the evening of the same day, I addressed our pilgrims and updated them on the situation regarding Mashaa’ir. I said that at that moment, we had no place in Minaa except the D Tents. I beseeched them to pray to Allah for a solution during their Umrah ritual. We have never accommodated our pilgrims in tents other than the highest available—A or even A Plus, which my company pioneered with the Mu’assasah.

Alhamdu Lillaah, their supplications were answered. On Zulhijjah 5, 1445 AH (June 11, 2024), two days before the movement to Minaa, Dr Aliyu Tanko called to give me the good news of a solution: that I should liaise with Shurakaa Al Khair, another company with strong links to Ithraa Al Khair. I did.

At Shurakaa, in collaboration with Ithraa Al Khair, my company was given the task of producing a rooming list for eight special tents (24 pilgrims per tent) to accommodate 192 pilgrims only, each of whom would pay SAR 20,000 = N8,400,000. These pilgrims paid almost double what any pilgrim in A Tent paid for the five days in Minaa. We had to. There was no other option! My staff and I and those of Shurakaa worked on this list for 48 hours nonstop. When one was tired, another person would take over. The list kept changing due to a call from either NAHCON or a state government official. By the time you think you are done, another name will be sent to replace another – some executive governors, distinguished senators, their royal highnesses, and eminent personalities. There were no rooms in these eight special tents to accommodate all stranded pilgrims with D Tent visas. Since the job was done on my company’s system, I still have the original list, just in case!

The chaos at the A Tents was inevitable, as shown in the picture painted above. Not all PTOs could relate the problem to their pilgrims who had paid for the A Tent accommodation. These PTOs were honest; they were willing to pay for the right services, but there was no way they could do that. Thus, they had no option but to bring the pilgrims (who did not know of the problems) to their place of choice, for which they paid completely. Ithraa Al Khair succeeded in erecting porous entry points that compounded the problem. The entire A Tent was flooded with so many pilgrims that it quadrupled its capacity. Before some of the occupants of the eight special tents could reach Minaa, alien pilgrims had invaded two of the tents. The invaders’ leader boldly told our pilgrims, ‘The MD of Comerel told his pilgrims in Madinah that they had no tents in Minaa. How come you are now here? We will remain in these tents and will not be expelled…’
Hasbunallaahu Wa Ni’mal Wakeel!

There will be no purpose served if I highlight the poor standard of service obtained in this concentration camp or how toilet facilities were stretched to the limit. The 192 pilgrims that paid double the cost of any pilgrims in A Tent had nothing to show for it other than their tents had fewer pilgrims and their beds were wider. But aside from that, they were part of the herd in the stampede.

Arafah was the only saving grace in Hajj 2024 for Ithraa Al Khair. The tent that accommodated the group of 192 pilgrims was a one-storey building with a central cooling system and superb facilities. There were no complaints about Arafah from any category of pilgrims. In short, about two weeks before the Day of Arafah, the D Tents were ready, carpets were laid, and air conditioning was functioning. Thank you Mal Jalal Ahmad Arabi. In my more than twenty years of experience in Hajj operations, that was the time that Arafah was ready days before D-Day.

If one must concede, let Ithraa Al Khair and two other Saudi service providers handle the D Tents for competition purposes. The fewer pilgrims per service provider, the better the standards offered. That is why the Saudi Hajj authorities registered about forty Saudi companies from which pilgrims’ officials worldwide can choose. Why must Nigerian pilgrims be served by only one company that has done poorly over the years?

As for the A Tents, which the PTOs handle, we should be allowed to choose a Saudi service provider that offers value for money to our clientele. If Mal Jalal had stuck to the concession he granted us in Makkah on the change of Mu’assash, the unfortunate situation in the A Tents would have been averted, and there would have been an abatement to the turbulence that almost marred the success of Hajj 2024 operations. Wallaahu A’lam.