Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has announced Hajj seats for the overall winners of the annual Qur’anic recitation competition in the state in the male and female categories.
According to the governor, the two winners will be among the clerics who will serve as guides and preachers for pilgrims from the state during the 2024 Hajj exercise.
The governor made the announcement at the finals of the annual Qur’anic recitation which was held in Kaduna, the state capital on Saturday.
He also donated cash prizes to winners of the competition from first to fourth positions across different categories.
Sani, while speaking on the 2024 Hajj exercise, said he has inaugurated a committee to ensure that the next Hajj exercise is hitch-free and a great improvement on the 2023 exercise characterised by accommodation and feeding challenges.
While noting that many people have approached him seeking contracts on Hajj services like pilgrims’ uniforms, food and accommodation among others, the governor said,
“What I want to tell whoever gets a contract for Hajj services, is that they should fear Allah and give the best to the pilgrims so that they can earn the prayers of the pilgrims, not the wrath of Allah the pilgrims are going to serve,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Leader, Jama’atu Izalatu Bid’ah Wa Ikamatu Sunnah, Abdullahi Lau, while delivering a lecture at the event, also said that the Qur’an is the solution to ending the challenges of terrorism because whoever understands the Qur’an will not engage in terrorism and banditry.
He urged Muslim scholars to fall back to the Holy Qur’an to ensure that peace reigns, noting that that remained the only solution to the security challenges bedeviling the land.
The Islamic cleric who commended the governor for his contribution to the propagation of Islam urged him to carry on with the good works of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Lau noted that infrastructural development without citizens’ welfare was not good enough.
He also urged Nigerians, especially the Muslim ummah (community) to stay away from worshipping anything other than their creator.
The Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Dahiru Liman, also announced the donation of the sum of N1.5 million to the winners and judges of the competition.
