NAHCON To Abide By Saudi’s Food Order

Nigeria will comply with Saudi Arabia’s directive on serving hygienic foods at Muna and Arafat during the pilgrimage for the year, Alhaji Yusuf Adebayo of National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), said.

Adebayo, the NAHCON) Commissioner for Policy Personnel Management, told said in Abuja on Monday that the commission would be acting based on the demand of Saudi authorities.

He said that the Saudi Ministry of Hajj had made it mandatory for NAHCON to provide Nigerian pilgrims hygienic meals at Muna and Arafat.

It would be recalled that feeding arrangements were not properly coordinated during last year’s Hajj, as orientation was not organised for chairmen and secretaries of state feeding committees.

Adebayo gave an assurance that stakeholders would be carried along to ensure that pilgrims received their meals in an orderly manner.

He said that the caterers would be screened and shortlisted, before taking them to Saudi Arabia” because the Saudi law provides that you must have an accredited kitchen before you can cook.

“Because everybody in Saudi Arabia is guest of the Saudi Government, so if the food is not hygienic and something happens, it becomes their problem.”

He said that the difficulty encountered by the Commission last year, was that the license obtained in Jeddah could not be used to cook in Muna and Arafat which was not known to the caterers.

Adebayo said that this year’s Hajj would be better as NAHCON had “really put things in place to make sure that Nigerians that travel for Hajj are well fed.”

He said that chairmen and secretaries of state food committees would work with NAHCON food committee to oversee the activities of the states.

Adebayo said that food coupons had been designed and would be given to each state based on the number of pilgrims and as such “there would be no need to scramble for food.