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19 May 2009 Securing hajj seat for any indigene
of Katsina State who intends to travel to Saudi Arabia
for the annual hajj rites has become difficult and
very uncertain over the last two years. This is
ostensibly due to the raging controversy surrounding
both the allocation and supersonic speed with which
the seats allocated to the state get exhausted barely
48 hours after they are officially opened to the
public.
Weekly Trust was informed that there have been
various complaints and outcries by people who either
feel short-changed in the process or were unable to
secure a slot to travel to the holy land for the
annual hajj despite their ability to meet the
stipulated bank draft charges streamlined by the state
Pilgrims' Welfare Board as the precondition to secure
a seat.
Many people were bewildered over the new turn of
events on the hajj seats, which hitherto was a matter
of right. The complaints became even worse this year
despite government's effort to curtail the fraud that
marred the previous hajj operations in the state.
Checks by Weekly Trust revealed that many intending
pilgrims particularly from rural areas who either sold
their houses, plots, farms and animals were shocked
that they could not secure slots because the seats for
this year's hajj have allegedly been distributed by
the local government chairmen to their lackeys and
political associates. Our reporter also found out that
even when they're available, one has to pay a huge
bribe to local government officials to secure a slot.
Until last year when the seats unusually
disappeared, all previous operations had been
relatively okay. Last year's operation attracted
outcries from intending pilgrims. The situation later
on forced the state government to set up an
investigative committee under the leadership of the
state's Head of Service, Alhaji Danyaya Mashi. The
committee reviewed and discovered fraud in the
allocation.
Two months after the committee investigated and
recovered 1,097 seats, it also found some officials of
the state Pilgrims' Welfare Board of complicity in a
sharing spree. The committee chairman told the state
that his committee had recommended that the recovered
seats be redistributed via a sharing formula across
the 34 local government councils of the state on first
come, first serve basis.
Even before then, Governor Ibrahim Shema while
inaugurating the Ali Hussaini technical committee for
the implementation of the hajj report expressed
disappointment over the fraudulent way in which some
hajj officials acted, which was unbecoming of their
official responsibility. He described it as a shameful
and condemnable act and promised to deal with whoever
is found guilty in future.
The committee recommended a new formula of sharing
the seats to respective local governments, the state
government went ahead to experiment its recommendation
but the exercise became worse this year. The ongoing
system has been adjudged the worst because of the
reported corruption that's trailing the exercise and
complaints that top echelons in the respective local
government councils have allegedly cornered the seats
allocated with the active connivance of their
councillors.
Weekly Trust learnt that some local government
council officials freely traded seats to the highest
bidder irrespective of which local government or state
he/she comes from, with each slot costing as much as
N50,000.
Muhammad Dikko Usman, an indigene of Katsina Local
Government who could not secure a seat because of the
competition in his council showed this reporter a
receipt that he obtained with additional N30,000 from
a councillor in neighbouring Jibia Local Government
Area of the state. He said though he did not know the
councillor personally, he was connected to him by a
senior official from his local government on condition
that he adds to the amount he had paid previously, and
he obliged.
In addition, while some local governments have
exhausted their allocations, many others could not
exhaust theirs due to the low number of intending
pilgrims who registered from the local governments.
For instance, a certain ward in Matazu Local
Government that was allocated 13 seats has only two
people that have registered from the ward thereby
giving room for the council members to manipulate the
remaining.
The seats became more competitive in the urban
areas. For example, in Katsina Local Government where
292 seats were allocated to the council, over 2400
people have been screened separately the first day it
opened to the public, a situation which forced many to
either resort to neighbouring local governments or
move to other states to secure slots.
Danjuma Ibrahim, an indigene of Kaita Local
Government Area, alleged that their councillor was
directed to deny people in the opposing camps slots
even if they belong to the same party. He said due to
internal party wrangling between some powerful
stalwarts and forces loyal to the council boss, the
latter even preferred to deal with opposition members
than the rest. This situation is the same in many
other local government areas.
Danjuma who flayed the new allocation formula
adopted by the state government said it's obvious that
the issue will only be a political weapon to be used
by the respective politicians, adding "if a local
government chairman whom you have given money to work
for the people did not perform, how can you entrust
him with the revered seats of holy pilgrimage meant
for the people?"
Nigerian media claimed that many people from rural
areas who sell their farms, herds of cattle and or
properties in order to pay for hajj this year were
unable to do so because they either could not pay the
extra charges or lacked the idea of where to pursue
the chair even if they could afford the extra charges.
Others spoken to attributed the development to
government's lackadaisical attitude to punish erring
hajj officials in the 2007/2008 fraud despite
assurances of same by both the state governor and the
probe committee.
Over 1,000 seats were allocated to individuals and
government functionaries with the highest of 400 seats
given to an individual, followed by the governor with
100 seats, his deputy and governor's wife shared 50/50
seats each and other allocations were given to the
state executive council, Speaker of the House of
Assembly, Chief Judge and Grand Khadi, Katsina and
Daura Emirate councils and other institutions within
the state. Weekly Trust also learned that a reserve of
300 seats and about 200 seats were shared among the
top echelons of the pilgrims' board.
Meanwhile, the state government has as a result of
the raging controversies and retinue of more
complaints directed the committee to conduct a new
verification in all the local government area, but the
committee headed by the state head of service is in
its verification currently being conducted relies
solely on the receipts shown by an intending pilgrim
which to them serve as prove that one pays and secures
a hajj seat in a given local government area.No
government official was ready to speak on the matter
when efforts were made to have their side of the
story.
EsinIslam.Com
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