The Bauchi State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has expressed satisfaction with the readiness of the State’s Primary Health Care Development Agency to embark on pilgrims’ vaccination against preventable diseases such as diphtheria, polio, and measles.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Imam Abdurrahman expressed satisfaction when he visited the state Medical Store in Bauchi Specialist Hospital, in Bauchi.
According to a release by the Information officer of the board, Muhammad Sani Yunusa, Abdurrahman was visibly happy over what he saw at the medical store, rescheduling the vaccination exercise to Saturday.
According to him, this was due to hitches in the conveyance of the vaccine to the state.
He unveiled some little changes in the itinerary of the exercise, saying “The Bauchi Local Government prospective Pilgrims, Hajj Savings Scheme HSS, the Board, and Government Sponsored Pilgrims will get their vaccine on Saturday 11th to Monday 13th May 2024 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Bauchi Specialist Hospital, BACAS.
“The vaccines would be distributed to all general hospitals in the state, so intending pilgrims can easily be attended to at various Local Governments as scheduled from Sunday 12th May 2024”.
Meanwhile, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has sent a 43-man advance team of 35 NAHCON officials and eight medical personnel to finalise preparations to receive Nigerian pilgrims.
The team is to organise and coordinate the reception, accommodation, feeding and transportation, health and general welfare of the pilgrims in the Holy Land throughout the Hajj period.
The advance team will depart Abuja on Sunday, to receive the first set of pilgrims scheduled to depart Kebbi State on Wednesday.
This was contained in a statement by NAHCON’s Deputy Director of Information and Publications Division, Mousa Ubandawaki, on Saturday.
The Chairman of the Commission, Jalal Arabi, in a brief farewell ceremony, held at the Hajj House in Abuja, congratulated the team on their selection, stressed the importance of the conduct of the advanced team, and admonished them to serve the guests well.
“You are the first point of call or contact with the pilgrims. Their impression and perception of your actions or activities will go a long way toward assessing the Commission. If you get it right, we get it right and on the contrary, if you get it wrong, the rest will just be about crisis management.
Therefore, you must be up and doing in order to earn our reward here and that of Allah in the Hereafter for treating His Guests well. They are the reason you are there, so at every point in time, make sure you attend or treat them with courtesy and respect”, he said.
