It’s a Sunday morning in May 2024 in downtown Accra, capital of Ghana. I’m in a church auditorium. Strangely for an African Pentecostal assembly, there are subdued acoustics. The preacher’s message is electronically transmitted. But it is solemnly controlled to stay indoors. Later, I find myself in the city’s busy streets. I’m challenged by long, snaky metallic lines glistening under …

The first and second batches of 845 pilgrims from Ogun State led by officials of the Ogun State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board have arrived in Medina, Saudi Arabia, to perform this year’s holy pilgrimage. The first batch of the pilgrims landed at Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport on Sunday at about 11.15am while the second batch touched down on Monday …

A total of 7,582 Nigerian pilgrims have been transported to Medina, Saudi Arabia, in the first phase of the 2024 Hajj exercise. They were airlifted in five days after the inaugural flight for this year’s hajj at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport (SABIA) in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, which Vice President Kashim Shettima flagged off. The exercise entered its 5th …

Vice President Kashim Shettima has flagged off the inaugural flight for this year’s hajj at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport (SABIA), Birnin Kebbi (SABIA) to Madina International Airport, Jedda with 423 pilgrims and hajj officials from Jega and Arewa local government areas of Kebbi State. While flagging off the flight, Shetima said despite the economic constraints the country had gone …

The Migration Advisory Committee has proposed that the United Kingdom’s graduate route visa’s two-year- validity should be maintained. It, however, proposed an extension for PhD holders – recommending three years. The committee insisted that it found no significant abuse of the Graduate route but raised concerns about recruitment agents misleading international students. A graduate visa permits applicants to stay in …

The management of Dana Air has confirmed reports that one of its aircraft with registration number 5N BKI skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday morning. The airline made the confirmation in a statement on Tuesday. Expressing regret, the airline noted that the aircraft which flew from Abuja to Lagos, skidded off the …

Travel content creator Pelumi Nubi arrived in Nigeria on Sunday after the London to Lagos road trip she embarked upon on 31st January 2024. Nubi was welcomed at the Nigeria-Benin Republic border by Lagos Commissioner of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; and Special Adviser on Tourism, Arts, and Culture to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Idris Aregbe. Nubi’s next destination was …

Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf has approved a subsidy of N500,000 for each of the state’s intending pilgrims for this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The Director General of the State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Lamin Dan-Baffa, announced this when he addressed reporters yesterday in Kano. “Considering the current economic hardship the people are facing, an increase in the Hajj …

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said that pilgrims who registered for the 2024 Hajj before the previous deadline of 12 February will now have to pay a balance of N1.9 million in accordance with the current exchange rate. NAHCON enjoined pilgrims to pay up the balance before 29 March 2024, when the commission will shut down its …

The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) has urged the federal and state governments to step in and address the escalating crisis surrounding Nigeria’s preparations for the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage. In a statement released yesterday by the Secretary General of SCSN, Nafi’u Baba-Ahmed, concerns were raised about the sluggish pace of preparations for the Hajj, with Nigeria failing to …