On Friday, July 15, the first flight carrying Nigerian Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia back to their homeland will take off.

Alhaji Zikirullah Hassan, Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), revealed that the airlifting of pilgrims would follow a first-in, first-out strategy during the Post-Arafat Stakeholders’ conference in Makkah.

The airlifting of pilgrims back to Nigeria would have been completed before the August 13 deadline set by Saudi Arabia, according to Alhaji Hassan, who urged the collaboration of other stakeholders.

He stated that before going back to Nigeria, more than 7,000 pilgrims who had not yet visited Medina will do so.

The Saudi Arabian authorities had agreed, according to Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, that starting the following year, Nigerian cooks would be called upon earlier before the Hajj exercise to instruct Saudi cooks on how to prepare regional foods from Nigeria.

Additionally, Alhaji Abubakar Nalaraba, the chairman of the House Committee on Pilgrims Affairs, acknowledged that certain nations were unable to participate in this year’s Hajj while complimenting NAHCON on a successful exercise.

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Alhaji Yahya Lawal, the Nigerian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said in a welcome speech that all parties participating in the Hajj operations had learned from this year’s exercise and will use those lessons to improve the Hajj in 2023.

Three pilgrims from the states of Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Sokoto died while participating in the exercise, according to the head of the medical team, Dr. Usman Galadima, during the presentations of committee findings.

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