ANATOMY OF THE 2019 HAJJ FARES IN NIGERIA

by
Ishaq Ibrahim Jae

Figures of the 2019 Hajj Fares for Nigeria emerged with the
announcement by Yobe State of N1,522,475. For the average Nigerian
and especially the intending pilgrim, long-awaited information is now
available. While some were irked that the fares are on the high side,
some had a sigh of relief as they were below the widely-publicised 1.8
Million a few months back. Behind each figure is a story that the public
needs to hear. This article seeks to give a cockpit-view of the 2019 Hajj
fares computation process and later juxtapose Nigeria’s Hajj fares with
those of some select countries and allow the reader to make his or her
conclusions. The process goes like this:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which by the special grace of Allah SWT,
is the sole host of Hajj and Umrah, sets the framework for every Hajj
exercise which is captured in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
usually signed between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. The MoU for 2019 Hajj
was signed between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on 12th December 2018.
This kick-started all other processes and arrangements required for the
computation of the cost of Hajj for the year 2019.

After the signing, the Commission led representatives of State Pilgrims

Welfare Boards, Travel Agencies, Nigeria’s Foreign missions in Saudi
Arabia and representatives of the National Assembly to discuss with the
various Saudi Agencies in charge of various aspects of the Hajj namely,
The United Agents Office, The Establishment of Mutawwifs for Pilgrims
from African non-Arab Countries in Makkah, The General Car Syndicate
and the National Adillah Establishment in Madina. All these agencies are
responsible for various components of the Hajj where they fix prices for
some services while others are negotiated upon except the Adillah
Establishment which has no charges for its services.
Accommodation and Catering Service Providers are also pre-qualified
and licensed for various SPWBs to choose from. All these were concluded
between December 12th, 2018 and 15th January 2019.

Back home in Nigeria, Airlines were selected in like manner. The

Commission together with representatives SPWBs, Federal Aviation
Agencies and anti-graft agencies all participated in the prequalification
of carriers and subsequently, determination of the fares to be charged
for airlift was done in consultation with the Nigeria Civil Aviation
Authority NCAA. State Pilgrims Welfare Boards also appear before the
Commission present and discuss their local charges. While all these were
on-going, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the exchange rate of
NGN306 to USD1 to be used in the computation of the 2019 Hajj fares.

To put things into proper perspective, it is pertinent to give an overview

of the components making the 2019 Hajj fare. The fare comprises of 21
items. Some of the Items are determined by the Saudi Government for
the entire world. Some are agreed upon with Saudi Agencies or service
providers depending on services chosen for pilgrims both in Saudi Arabia
and Nigeria. For the purpose of this exercise, I shall use the fares for
Adamawa State.
DETAILS OF THE 2019 HAJJ FARES
A DOLLAR (USD) COMPONENTS
S/N ITEM USD NGN SUM (NGN)
1 Air Fare 1,500.00 459,000.00 459,000.00
2 Makkah Accommodation 853.79 261,259.74
3 Madinah Accommodation 406.65 124,434.90 385,694.64
4 Air Conditioners at Arafat 78.44 24,003.20
5 United Agents Fees 610.59 186,841.25
6 Tent C 78.44 24,003.20
7 Ministry of Hajj Deposit 13.34 4,082.04
8 Mu’assassah Arafat PVC Tent 84.04 25,717.72 264,647.41
9 Feeding at Masha’er 85.38 26,125.93
10 Feeding at Airport 4.00 1,224.65
11 Feeding at Makkah &Madinah Accommodation (35days) 280.15 85,725.72 113,076.31
12 Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) 800.00 244,800.00 244,800.00
13 1%CBN Commission charge 39.95 12,224.18 12,224.18
Sum 4,834.78 1,479,442.54
B NAIRA (NGN) COMPONENTS
14 NAHCON Administrative Charges N1500 1,500.00
15 Development levy (N5,000) 3,000.00
16 Uniform 4,000.00
17 Yellow Card 2,000.00
18 SMPWB Administrative Charges 3,000.00
19 Hadaya (Optional)
20 Registration Form 500.00
21 Suitcase 16,665.00 30,665.00
TOTAL 1,510,107.54

The component with the highest share is the airfare of $1,500 (N459,000)
which constitutes 30.4% of the total package. Next is pilgrims’
accommodation in Makkah and Madinah of $1,260 (385,695) which
constitute 25.5% of the fare. All services to be rendered by Saudi
Agencies which include Land transportation, Minna and Arafat Tent and
ancillary services as well as Ministry of Hajj Deposit are third in this
ranking being $864.9 (N264,647) comprising of 17.5%; The Pilgrims’ Basic
Travel Allowance of $800 (N244,800) constitutes 16.3%; Feeding in
Makkah, Madina, Masha’er and the Jeddah airport, $370 (113,076)
constitutes another 7.5% while all local charges comprising of the
pilgrim’s suitcase, uniform, various admin charges and levies are the
smallest part constituting $140 (N42,889) being 2.8%.

2019 HAJJ FARE

Local Charges
Feeding
3%
8%

Airfares
BTA 31%
16%

Saudi Charges
17%
Accommodatio
n
25%
 It is interesting to note here that the Dollar Component of the fares
gulps a whopping $4,834 (N1,479,442) 97.9% hence the dramatic effect
of any shift in exchange rates on the final fares announced. An example
of this is clear when the airfare of 2009 and 2019 are compared. In 2009,
the airfare was $1,500. Ten years later in 2019, the airfares remain the
same. Yet, while pilgrims paid N202,500 in 2009, they are paying the
sum of N459,000 in 2019. This is so because the exchange rate moved
from N135 to $1 in 2009 to N306 in 2019.

A 5-YEAR COMPARISON OF USD COMPONENT A 5-YEAR HAJJ FARES COMPARISON TOTAL

OF HAJJ FARES' HAJJ FARES

5.1 2.00

Millions
Thousands
USD COMPONENT

5
4.9 1.50
4.8
4.7 1.00
4.6
4.5
4.4 0.50
160 197 305 305 306
-
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
EXCHANGE RATE PER YEAR YEAR

A five-year comparison of Hajj fares as shown in the charts above

indicate how the exchange rates have affected the fares. It also shows
the efforts in NAHCON’s management of Hajj fares. The USD components
of the Hajj fares peaked in 2016 when the Commission opted to
accommodate 100% of its pilgrims in Markaziyya area of Madina while
the Dollar appreciated against the Naira by 23% moving from 160 to 197.
It should be noted also that the Commission successfully managed the
USD component between 2016 and 2018 where a consistent reduction
was achieved as a result of numerous belt-tightening measures adopted
by NAHCON in managing the fares.

A comparison of the 2018 and 2019 Hajj fares indicates that the
Commission was able to maintain or reduce all components within its
jurisdiction. The Airfare and cost of pilgrims’ feeding were maintained;
The cost of pilgrims accommodation was reduced and likewise, the local
components were also managed or reduced. All these efforts, however,
were consumed by the 69% increase of land transportation from $360 in
2018 to $610 in 2019 as can be seen in the table below.
A USD COMPONENTS
S/N ITEM 2018 2019 DIFFERENCE
1 Air Fare 1,500.00 1,500.00 0.00
2 Makkah Accommodation 942.27 853.79 88.48
3 Madinah Accommodation 418.06 406.65 11.41
4 Air Condition at Arafat 78.44 78.44 0.00
5 United Agents Fees 360.55 610.59 -250.04
6 Tent C 77.04 78.44 -1.40
7 Ministry of Hajj Deposit 13.04 14.01 -0.97
8 Mu’assassah Arafat PVC Tent 84.04 84.04 0.00
9 Feeding at Masha'ir 85.38 85.38 0.00
10 Feeding at Airport 4.00 4.00 0.00
11 Feeding at Makkah & Madinah 299.76 280.15 19.61
Accommodation (35days)
12 Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) 800.00 800.00 0.00
13 1%CBN Commission charge 38.84 39.95 -1.11
Sum 4,701.42 4,835.44 -134.02
B NGN COMPONENTS
14 Administrative Charges N1500 1,500.00 1,500.00 0.00
15 Development levy (N5,000) 3,000.00 3,000.00 0.00
16 Uniform 4,000.00 4,000.00 0.00
17 Yellow Card 2,000.00 2,000.00 0.00
18 State Admin Charges 3,000.00 3,000.00 0.00
19 Hadaya (Optional) 0.00 0.00
20 Registration Form 500.00 500.00 0.00
21 Suitcase 16,665.00 16,665.00 0.00

TOTAL 1,482,284.64 1,510,106.00 -27,821.36

How do Nigeria’s Hajj fares compare with that of other countries? The
fares of each country are determined by many factors some of which are
the relationship of its currency to the USD, its country or regional trade
relations with Saudi Arabia and Government policies. In Africa, Nigeria’s
neighbour the Niger Republic charges $3,939 while Ghana charges
$3,500. The fares for the Gambia starts from $5,034. These are however
countries with small pilgrims population (less than 10,000). Indonesia
charged $2,632 in 2018 while its neighbours Brunei, Singapore and
Malaysia charge $8,980, $5,232 and $2,557 respectively.
In 2018, Pakistan had charged $1,856 under Government. In 2019
However, it charged the sum of $2,880 with packages for Travel Agencies
having a minimum of $4,046. Like the case in Nigeria, the 2019 Hajj
fares in Pakistan caused a public outcry as the country experienced a
60% increase in Hajj fares from 2018 due to three reasons: A 37%
currency devaluation and the removal of Hajj subsidy by Government
and increase in transportation fares by Saudi Arabia.

Different strokes for different folks best describes the 2019 Hajj fares
both within Nigeria and among the 184 countries involved in the exercise
from all parts of the globe. Despite the 69% increase in transportation
fares, the fact that Nigeria was able to keep the fare increase below 7%
is no mean feat.

Abuja, 27th May, 2019

aimskd@gmail.com