The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has enjoined pilgrims to promptly lodge complain with regards to poor services offered to them in Madina and Makkah.
The Chairman, NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, said this in a statement by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Mrs Fatima Usara on Tuesday.
“NAHCON enjoins any pilgrim with complain over poor services rendered, whether in poor catering services, transportation, sanitation and other unsatisfactory service delivery, to lodge their complains through NAHCON’s Madinah and Makkah coordinators.
“This will ensure prompt response to such grievances and be addressed immediately.
“NAHCON will not hesitate in taking necessary action where there is an obvious infraction on welfare of its pilgrims.
“The Commission will ascertain such claims and stipulate the right penalties for the defaulters as agreed in the contract award terms,” he said.
The Chairman gave the assurance that Commission would not compromise Nigerian pilgrims’ satisfaction at all times.
Hassan commended the pilgrims for their resilience and cooperation during the transportation schedules, which has so far made the exercise to go on smoothly.
He also applauded states pilgrims welfare agencies for their prompt response to departure arrangements, which had been orderly with minimal delays.
The NAHCON boss also commended other stakeholders for playing their parts well since the Hajj operations began.
“The commission has screened and selected capable hands in catering services to feed Nigerian pilgrims while in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and secured sufficient standard accommodations for them.
“In addition to the selections, the Commission has put in place mechanisms for checks and balances that will ensure providers render services dully paid for without shortchanging the Nigerian pilgrims,” he added.
Hassan said that the mechanisms included clearly stated terms and conditions of engagement, signed agreements and advance payment for the services.
According to him, this is being followed by constant monitoring and supervision by NAHCON staff, in addition to a portal for pilgrims to report any complain.
“The complaint line is open 24/7 in Hausa, Fulfulde, Yoruba and Igbo on 097000780.
“Alternatively, one can visit NAHCON’s portal on nahcon.gov.ng then scroll through the resources for complaint management portal,” he added.