By Adeleye Kunle
We arrived at the King Abdul Azeez International Airport on July 5, 2022, along with over 400 other pilgrims from Lagos and Abuja, full of gratitude to Allah. So grateful because, just as we were about to take off from Lagos, there was a loud call for the medics on board to respond quickly to an emergency. One of our prospective pilgrims, a middle-aged Lagos State pilgrim, was in poor health. She was quickly surrounded by medics and others for various forms of assistance. Her lower limbs were incapable of supporting her upper trunk. As medics attempted to wake her up, her dropping head betrayed a failing neck. This unpleasant inside-aircraft incident lasted more than 30 minutes, but no one was in a hurry because we all hoped she could recover in time for the six-hour flight. She couldn’t do it. She needed assistance disembarking.
The pilgrims arrival point in Jeddah secured by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for Nigerian pilgrims provided inexhaustible yet refreshing facilities as we had everything we needed to bathe and put on our Ihram before heading straight to the Holy Masjid Haram in Makkah for the first leg of the holy pilgrimage. We had to drop our light bags just before the walk to Haram from our hotel; Muslim pilgrims are advised to travel light. The Nema Mawadda Hotel was to be my home, as well as the homes of my eight Lagos-based media colleagues. With the relentless chant of Labaykalahuma Labayka, we hurried to the Holy Mosque.
After the initial rites at Haram, many of the officials in the same plane as me were excited by the facilities, which were broadly described as a clear departure from the past. One of them offered to help: The hotel for officials used to be like a school dormitory, with mattresses on the floor and no basic amenities for a comfortable night’s sleep. As a result, you are immediately conditioned to fully activate your senses in preparation for the hajj season’s characteristics of endurance, patience, and tolerance.
Since I began performing hajj in the 1990s, it has been a reasonably priced Makkah accommodation for this writer. Our Nema Mawwada Hotel on Ibrahim El Khalil Street is only 30 minutes of healthy trekking on well-paved road side-walks away from Masjid Haram. What with generous givers of refreshments, including full meals to pilgrims, beckoning from both left and right? On my first day, I received a variety of offers, including a full meal with chicken. I had barely finished that when my friend and colleague, ex-Tell editor Mikhail Mumuni, threw a joke about culinary adventure, saying he wanted to look for a place to get shawarma. Quickly, a man strolled over to our side and handed out exactly that, and for free! Allah Akbar, we both exclaimed!
During my repeated visits to the holy masjid, I came to appreciate the quality of the vision and taste of the new NAHCON leadership, which was hinted at on the first day of arrival by the tested, trans-generational leader, Zikrullah Hassan. That hotel for NAHCON officials was a magnificent landmark for all Nigerian pilgrims. It is extremely visible and can be used as a landmark to determine the location of hotels for pilgrims from all Nigerian states. All that was required was to enter Haram through Gate 79, also known as King Fahad Gate. When you’ve finished at the largest, mega masjid, try to find the two wide roads separated by the ultra modern, underground toilets—one for men and one for women—to find your way home. El Khalil Street is well-known in Makkah.
Away from Haram and into the street, or highway, you’re tempted to look into the shops selling various wares that adorn the ground floors of many hotels occupied by pilgrims from various countries. The hotel lineup is reminiscent of the situation in Joa Pessoa, a northwestern beach city in Brazil that hosted the 2016 edition of the Internet Governance Forum, or IGF, a global gathering dedicated to discussing internet and all related issues. At night in Makkah, billowing flags of the countries whose pilgrims stay in each of the hotels become more visible as they unfurl as if in a cautious dance for the special month of Dhul Hijjah.
Between Haram and our own Nema Mawadda Hotel, there are three overhead bridges and a set of three twin, big, blue coated road sign boards pointing in the direction of where Nigerian pilgrims are concentrated. The first bridge leads you to the marbled staircase that descends from the platform of the massive male and female washrooms.
As you make your way into Nigerian territory, you’ll notice a swarm of pilgrims from Turkey with their national emblem emblazoned on everything they wear and carry. But, as Hajj is an inimitable facilitator of race convergence, here to your right is the Palestine Hotel, clearly occupied by Palestinian pilgrims. Outside of the hotel’s lobby, a massive, yet gleaming structure parades invitingly set tea tables and chairs for hotel guests. The allure of the elaborately furnished lobby with conspicuous expressions of hospitality can then be imagined. Pilgrims from Turkey and Palestine cheerfully bid farewell to colleagues from other countries as they proceeded to their respective hotels, greeting them with salaam, the short form of Asalam alaykum warahmatullah wabaaraka tuh.
A hotel occupied by Bangladeshi pilgrims is located shortly after the bridge. It’s not any less appealing than the one for Turkiye pilgrims. Indeed, one recurring feature of all cadres of facilities here is the use of high-quality materials in the face of a difficult, if not impossible, hilly environment. Behind each of the hotels are massive mountains, but the hotels appear to compete with them in height as well as flaunting extremely beautiful architectural designs not found in other parts of the world I’ve visited, including the US, UK, and Netherlands. Dubai is likely to be the next city to host such spectacles. If you work in environments such as tertiary institutions, where architects are expected to provide patrons with their expertise but fail to do so, Saudi hotels will regard such architects as criminals. Towering structures everywhere display exquisitely detailed aesthetics.
As I continued on my journey to see hotels for Indonesians and Pakistanis, the hotels for Turkiye and Bangladesh pilgrims reminded me of Nigeria’s membership in the D8 countries, whose current executive secretary, Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, is a Ngerian, a diplomacy veteran who was previously Nigeria’s ambassador to Brazil. D8, also known as the Developing-8, is a development cooperation organization comprised of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Its secretariat is located in Istanbul, Turkey. Our hotels are on the same street, as if EL Khalil Street were D8 Street. Nigeria thus ranks impressively in terms of location choice, especially given that the new NAHCON leadership did everything humanly possible to secure far better accommodation rates for pilgrims this year, despite the fact that the global dollar ranking has not spared our Naira. Several other currencies, including those of strong economies such as the Yen and Euro, have not fared any better recently.
Aside from allowing Nigerian pilgrims to rub shoulders with those from Turkey and Bangladesh, Europe’s fastest growing economies and the world’s largest garment producers, respectively, the NAHCON leadership finally seized a golden opportunity for us all when African countries’ hajj administrators had to meet with Saudi authorities to review this year’s hajj. Ustaz Zikrullah Hassan, NAHCON Chair, addressed the grateful audience on behalf of all Africans. The pride for Nigeria, most recently heightened by athlete Tobi Amusan, was palpable at the lovely event in Makkah.
Hassan, the NAHCON boss, was well prepared for the honor bestowed upon him. His generosity began at home. The previous week, he organized a transparent Hajj 2022 review session for select stakeholders in Makkah, where issues were critically discussed but he received praise. The lesson: Colleagues from within and without can only respect you if you respect yourself. Hassan deserved it!
Akanni, Associate Professor and Head of the Journalism Department at LASU, is a member of the Hajj 2022 National Media Committee.
