The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has cautioned state pilgrims’ welfare boards, Hajj operators and prospective pilgrims against abandoning the traditional approach to Hajj preparations.

It said the warning was necessitated by Saudi Arabia’s tightening of its digital, financial and operational requirements.

About 50,000 Nigerians are expected to perform the religious rite next year. The Federal Government is to manage 35,000 of the 50 slots approved by the Saudi authorities and 15,000 by licensed tour operators.

NAHCON Chairman Ismail Yusuf said at a news conference in Abuja yesterday that the commission is aligning Nigeria’s Hajj administration with the sweeping reforms introduced by Saudi Arabia under its Vision 2030 programme.

Yusuf said the reform includes full digitalisation, strict deadlines, professional certification of Hajj administrators and a gradual shift from government-managed pilgrimage to a business-to-business model.

He added that delays by states and operators could result in the loss or redistribution of allocated slots.

Yusuf said that complacency or delays could cost states their allocated slots and expose operators and pilgrims to avoidable difficulties.

For the 2027 Hajj, he said, the deadline for uploading data by intending pilgrims would begin September 26 and would not be extended.

Yusuf warned that states that fail to meet NAHCON’s deadlines risk losing their allocated slots to states that are ready with pilgrims and funds.

He said the strict timelines were necessary because Saudi Arabia now relies heavily on advance data to plan accommodation, transportation, movement and services for millions of pilgrims converging in the holy cities.

Yusuf, who also said NAHCON had raised the required bank guarantee for the private sector from N40 million to N200 million to better protect pilgrims, revealed that about 250 of them applied for licences during the last licensing round

The chairman explained that the digital transformation was equally critical, with visa applications, hotel bookings, flight confirmations, entry permits and access to holy sites increasingly processed through Saudi platforms, including Nusuk and Mashair.

He explained that Saudi Arabia had initially sought to move about 98 per cent of Nigerian pilgrims to the tour operator model but, following negotiations, agreed to a three-year transition beginning with 30 per cent of Nigeria’s pilgrims in the private-sector arrangement for the 2027 Hajj.

Yusuf said the transition should not be mistaken for resistance to the Saudi reforms, but rather an opportunity to prepare Nigerian operators and institutions for a system Saudi Arabia is implementing regardless of individual countries’ readiness.

“It’s called preparation. We just needed the window to get ready,” he said, adding that NAHCON would monitor the operators handling the initial 30 per cent before progressively increasing their share.

He said the changes had made early planning essential because Saudi Arabia was enforcing immovable timelines for data submission, payments and other operational arrangements.

He said NAHCON was therefore upgrading its digital infrastructure and training personnel to ensure that Nigerian states and operators could meet the new requirements.

“Ethiopia is complying, Turkey is complying, Indonesia, all these countries are complying with this digital system. So, it’s not something that is invented for us alone. If you don’t, you’ll be left behind,” he said. (The Nation)