About 76,000 Nigerian pilgrims were among the over two million Muslims that converged in Mina, an outskirt of Mecca, for the mandatory three-day camping in the tents city for this year’s Hajj.
But while other faithful from other parts of the world performed their spiritual rites in a clean and serene environments, their Nigerian counterparts performed theirs in an atmosphere polluted by foul odour and despicable sights of mounts of refuse piling away for days unattended to.
In 2012, Sunday Trust exclusively reported how the pilgrims from Nigeria lived among dumps of refuse during their mandatory stay in Mina.
Like other pilgrims, Nigerian pilgrims started moving to the tents city on Sunday, October 13, 2013, equivalent to 8 Zhul Hijja, marking the beginning of the 2013 hajj exercise.
But just like last year, the tents accommodation of the Nigerian pilgrims was taken over by refuse less than 24 hours later.
The pilgrims are expected to leave under tents for minimum of three days as part of the hajj rituals.
During their first day in Mina, Sunday Trust visited the tents accommodation of the Nigerian pilgrims and met them overwhelmed by heaps of refuse.
Nigerian pilgrims were seen by this reporter “comfortably” living among accumulated dirt that remained uncollected by the relevant authorities.
The Muassasah (service providers), contracted by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to feed the pilgrims in Mina are responsible for cleaning the inside of the tents while the Saudi environmental taskforce (Baladiyya) is responsible for cleaning the streets in Mina.
Of the 76,000 pilgrims from Nigeria, 10,000 were flown to the holy land by private tour operators, while the rest travelled through the states pilgrims welfare boards.
With the exception of the teams of the national Amirul Hajj under the Shehu of Borno Alhaji Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, the federal government delegation, comprising senators and House of Representatives members, officials of NAHCON, who all stayed in the expensive and luxurious Tent A Service Plus, and the NAHCON ad hoc staff who stayed in Service Plus Tent B, almost all the remaining pilgrims stayed in the crowded Tent C, which is at the extreme end of Mina and taken over by refuse.
Both Tents A and B are just some stone- throw from the Jamarat, where the symbolic stoning of devil takes place.
Sunday Trust observed that almost all the states’ Amirul Hajj teams also camped in either Tent A or B, many kilometres away from where their pilgrims stayed.
State governors, ministers, public officials, politicians and many other well-to-do Nigerians and their families also stayed in Tent A.
When Sunday Trust visited the Tent C, the major roads leading to the tents’ accommodation were overtaken by refuse and flooded by water with menacing odour.
The situation remained the same till the second day, Monday 14, which was the Arafat Day. It was observed that even after the pilgrims returned from Arafat on the third day, Tuesday 15, the refuse dumps were still there uncollected.
The situation deteriorated that Tuesday evening where, apart from the main roads, the filth have also blocked most of the gates leading to the tents accommodating Nigerian pilgrims.
Inside the Sokoto and Bauchi states tents, Sunday Trust saw pilgrims sleeping side-by-side with refuse. Others were eating amidst refuse dumps.
Even the various kitchens where pilgrims’ foods were prepared and served by the service providers were not exempted by the invading refuse. Many kitchens visited were seen overtaken by filth and mostly flooded with foul smelling water.
In the Sokoto State tents for instance, refuse had taken over both the inside and outside of the tents. When this reporter visited around 12pm on Tuesday, the kitchen entrance was blocked by a heap of refuse and flooded with terribly smelling water.
The situation is not any different in other states like Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Niger, the FCT, Katsina, Jigawa, Kogi, Yobe, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Gombe.
The tents of pilgrims who travelled through private tour operators were not spared by the mounting refuse.
Most of the state governments’ banners and those of the private tour operators were covered by refuse dumps.
Sunday Trust observed that Kano State government officials were seen on Tuesday cleaning their tents when the state governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was about to visit.
The FCT officials were seen also “cleaning” some parts of theirs before the FCT minister Bala Muhammed visited.
Kaduna State officials did the same thing when the wife of the state governor, Hajiya Khadija Ramalan Yero was about to visit.
Another interesting aspect of this is that, though other African pilgrims lived in almost the same area of Mina, their tents were not overwhelmed by dirt.
This reporter visited tents areas occupied by pilgrims from Niger Republic, Ghana, Chad, Mali among others but found out that their roads were clean and their tents were not overwhelmed by unattended heaps of refuse like those in Nigerian tents.
Speaking to Sunday Trust in Mina, the coordinator of Independent Hajj Reporters, a hajj-based civil society organisation, Ibrahim Muhammed, said this development is “unacceptable and embarrassing to Nigeria as a country.”
He said that, “It is unacceptable because it happened last year. We thought NAHCON, as a hajj regulatory agency would ensure that the same eyesore didn’t repeat itself. But we’re wrong.”
He said that pilgrims paid for the cleaning of their tents, therefore NAHCON should seek refund on their behalf.
“After what happened last year, Independent Hajj Reporters partnered with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); we jointly produced pamphlets containing pilgrims’ rights and ICPC toll- free lines where pilgrims can report cases when any of such rights is denied. It is a mechanism the pilgrims have started using,” Muhammed said.
Reacting to the situation in Mecca, chairman of NAHCON’s Committee on Sanitation and Feeding, Malam Shehu Makarfi said NAHCON had done a lot to arrest the situation. He cited the introduction of feeding in Mina, done mainly through disposal materials as factors that increased the volume of refuse.
He said NAHCON drew the attention of Saudi authorities to the situation on Arafat day “and equipment were mobilised to evacuate the refuse the next day.”
Makarfi explained that Nigerian tents were taken over by refuse because of food and wares vendors used to block access roads to the tents, hence refuse collectors could not evacuate them.
On why Nigerian tents are filthy compared to other African nations, he said all black immigrants (tukari) moved to the Nigerian tents “to catch the biggest Nigerian markets, thereby generating refuse and constituting nuisance.”
Makarfi said that unlike other parts of Mina, the area where Nigerians were kept didn’t have enough access roads or security posts to tackle the menace of the illegal immigrants who took over Nigerian tents.
He said the situation could be remedied by deploying more sanitation personnel and equipment, as well as rotating the area where Nigerians are kept in Mina.
“Apart from attitudinal change from Nigerians, the Saudis can also help by rotating the area where we are kept. If our pilgrims are taken to some areas with access roads, many security posts near the Jamarat, the influx of these illegal immigrants can be curtailed by the security forces; and the level of waste they generate can be reduced,” Makarfi said.
Source: Daily Trust
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