Sophia Michaels
Jalal Arabi
Jalal Arabi, the newly appointed chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has assumed office.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on Tuesday appointed Arabi as the new chairman of the commission after the former chairman, Zilkrullah Kunle Hassan, was asked to proceed on three months’ pre-terminal leave.
Arabi was received by the outgoing chairman, who was represented by his Commissioner for Policy, Personnel, Management and Finance (PPMF), Nura Hassan Yakasai.
At a meeting with the staff shortly after he resumed duties on Wednesday, Arabi called for cooperation and stronger ties among members of staff of the commission.
He assured the staff and Nigerians that the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu was genuine and sought the cooperation of the staff to get Nigeria back on track.
The new NAHCON chairman stated that the pilgrims will now believe that they have the opportunity to be listened to and a sense of belonging.
Earlier, Yakasai, while congratulating Arabi on his appointment, reminded him that the task ahead was enormous and very challenging.
He said, “I just want to mention that you are coming in or stepping into NAHCON at a critical time, at the time when all the preparations for Hajj are supposed to start or have already started and unfortunately, this time around the period of time given by the Saudi authority is different from the traditional ones where we have sufficient time to do whatever we want to do or arrange but unfortunately, you have a very short time.”
