National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has sought partnership with the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria, AHOUN, with a view to addressing the challenges facing Hajj operations in the country.

Acting chairman/chief executive officer of NAHCON, Malam Jalal Ahmad Arabi, made the call during an interactive meeting with the executives and members of AHOUN as part of the consultation drive.

Arabi, according to a statement issued on Thursday by the NAHCON’s Deputy Director, Information and Publications, Alhaji Mousa Ubandawaki, reiterated the Commission’s commitment to provide support and assistance towards ensuring Nigerian pilgrims have value for money.

While reiterating the importance of partnership, he described the AHUON as a dependable and reliable who is expected to support and cooperate with the Commission to ensure service delivery to the pilgrims.

He said: “I want to express profound gratitude to the association for being a dependable and reliable partner of NAHCON to believe success. There is no denying the fact that anyone involved in Pilgrimage knows the symbiotic relationship between the Commission and AHUON.

“Though, we supervise and superintend over you, however, I extend our hands of fellowship to you, so that we can get the best for our pilgrims.”

The chairman assured that the Commission would continue to discharge its responsibilities with openness and transparency.

“In me, you have a formidable partner and we will work with you with openness, transparency, honesty and accountability and in the best interest of the pilgrims,” Arabi assured.

The meeting which centered in a 10-point agenda agreed to ensure timely reconciliation, allocation of Pilgrims slots as well as remittance to the NAHCON’s IBAN Account to enabled the Commission meets its obligation and Saudi Arabia timeline.

In his response, the president of AHUON, Alhaji Yahaya Nasidi Danbare expressed the association’s willingness to support and cooperate with the Commission to achieve its objectives.

Danbare, while expressing the readiness of the association to work together with NAHCON to ensure Nigerian pilgrims are duly catered for, appreciated “the support and backing of NAHCON which has assisted us to airlift all our pilgrims to the holyland during the 2023 Hajj and we look forward to more collaboration and cooperation towards achieving greater feat in the forthcoming 2024 Hajj.”