Speeches

One-Day Seminar Organised for The Year 2007 Intending Pilgrims to Saudi Arabia

Nov 18, 2007 - Assalam Alaekum Waramatulahi Wabarakatuhu. It was with immense joy that I accepted your invitation
to attend this One-Day Seminar for intending pilgrims for the year 2007 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This year’s pilgrimage will be historic as it will be the first to be undertaken in the life of this administration. As a pilgrim myself since 2005 and in my former official capacity as Chief of Staff, I have been identifying with the affairs of the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board.

Nonetheless, the seminar we are gathered here to attend today will afford each and everyone of us the opportunity to raise and discuss relevant issues freely; listen to wise counsels from our elders and offer prayers to Almighty Allah to preside over this seminar and bless our endeavours and take us safely to and back from the Holy Land.

I must commend the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board for organizing this seminar to put the pilgrims in a proper frame of mind before undertaking the pilgrimage later in the year. I enthusiastically look forward to seeing the packaging of a hitch-free pilgrimage for which the Board has been known. I am convinced that with the distinguished men and women
on this year’s Committee, a solid foundation has been laid for a reliable and continuous improved Hajj services.

Let me seize this opportunity to thank the Nigerian Muslim Community in general and the Lagos State Muslim Community in particular for their continued patronage of the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and by extension sharing in the success story, which explains the large number of this year’s pilgrims as people from other States would like to enjoy our
hospitality. I want to assure you that the Lagos State Government shall continue to provide the necessary assistance to the Board with a view to ensuring the usual hitch-free and successful pilgrimage. The issue of welfare package to our Brothers and Sisters on pilgrimage will continue to receive our favourable attention.

I have been reliably informed that necessary arrangements have been made to ensure a successful and smooth Hajj pilgrimage. Problems of accommodation and transportation have been solved, experienced medical personnel, and drugs have been made available to ensure your comfort in the Holy land. We must however pray and be hopeful that the
Almighty Allah (SWT) will complement all our efforts with His blessings and accept this as an act of worship (Ibadah) for all of us.

Let me pledge my personal support and that of the State Government for this project and categorically state that we are committed to make it a worthwhile, memorable and fruitful experience. However, I must urge all pilgrims to please reciprocate the government’s kind gesture by conducting themselves well in the Holy Land as ambassadors of the
Country and the State. This would further boost the image of the State as the Centre of Excellence. In keeping with our policy of ensuring full compliance with the ethics and obligations expected of our pilgrims, we urge all of you to obey the rules and regulations of the Board. To this end, a Hajj Tribunal has been put in place to try erring pilgrims who may want to exhibit negative tendency capable of tarnishing the good image of the State. We however, hope and pray fervently that there would be no need for this.

In conclusion, I wish to implore all Pilgrims to please pray for the State and Nigeria so that we may continue to witness peace and harmony as well as an improved standard of living for the citizenry.

May Almighty Allah accept our prayers. I wish you all a blissful Hajj Mabrur.

Maa Salam.

“Eko o ni baje o!”

Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)
Governor of Lagos State