By Sam Otuonye
In a bold policy shift to upgrade the experience, streamline operations and services to Pilgrims visiting the holy land of Mecca, for their sacred duty, the Saudi Authority has introduced new measures to make the experience worthwhile, even as it has given September 26, 2026, as deadline for intending pilgrims to upload their data.
The development was made known by the Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Ambassador Ismail Abba Yusuf, in a media interaction on Monday, September 21, 2026, at the Hajj House’s Conference Hall, Abuja.
Ambassador Yusuf, who explained that the essence of the parley was to review the new norms occasioned by the reform, and get the Muslim community acquainted with them, stated that the reform touched several areas of the Hajj operations including digitalization, business model, medical, transportation, accommodation, and the scrapping of the grade D package, as well as a new operational calendar.
“The core objective is to transition from a decade-old state-managed public system into a highly commercial, digitized, and strictly regulated private market. This strategic evolution balances an ambitious goal of hosting 30 million pilgrims by 2030 with highly rigid, uncompromising safety and
operational protocol. The most prominent component of the reforms are privatization and market
disruption of the B2B system.
“Saudi Arabia is systematically moving away from dealing with government-run national governance, welfare laws, such that we have in Nigeria. Instead, it is forcing international Hajj delegations to migrate to a business model. In the case of Nigeria this year, there was an attempt
for us to move 98% of the pilgrims to a tour operator model. For us, this drastic reform.”
Ambassador Yusuf emphasized the need for pilgrims to upscale their digital literacy and professionalism in order to align with the logistics, medical disaster management, and digital operations the reform has introduced.
“Moving forward, the Saudi government is cancelling the grade D package because they believe that anybody who comes to perform Hajj should have the best experience. So that is an issue.
Then, of course, they are thinking about face-to-face training. Anybody who is a Hajj administrator should also be professional. No room for ad-hoc people
handling Hajj administration anymore.
“There are going to be specialised training on logistics, on medical services, disaster management and crowd control. All that are going to be included in their welfare. All that are going to be included in the packages for training. And we expect that unless you get certification for that, you are not going to be accepted as a Hajj manager.
Meaning that you will not get an official visa to perform any function as a Hajj manager. However, you can go on Hajj as an ordinary citizen.
“Of course, there is a complete digitisation and centralisation. The central cornerstone of the ecosystem is the Nusuk application and the Masar
platform. All visa applications, hotel booking, flight confirmations, entry permits, including access to the
holy sites must be secured and paid for exclusively through digital portal. And of course, it means that you need to embrace digital infrastructure to be able to do that. Otherwise, it will be difficult
for your children to access all the holy sites.”
Ambassador Yusuf stated that the
commonly affordable grade D which accommodates 80 to 90% of poor Nigerian pilgrims who, out of
commitment to their religion, save over time to be able to perform the sacred duty has been scrapped in order to give every participant a rewarding experience.
On the Nigeria’s response to the reforms,
recognizing that an abrupt overhaul would collapse the long-established Hajj administrative system in Nigeria, Ambassador Yusuf said NAHCON responded with structured diplomatic resistance and negotiated concessions.
He said the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria successfully argued that an immediate 98 percent shift
to privatization would trigger financial shock and leave the country, the ordinary Nigerian women, prized out of Hajj hence, on August 18, 2026, NAHCON secured a major diplomatic concession, getting Saudi approval for a phased transition over a three-year period, commencing with 30 percent
withdrawal from the 2027 Hajj.
He said that they made an appeal for Saudi to increase their quota, because of the increased number of applicants this year 2026, but was turned down, insisting that the 50,000 was sacrosanct.
“We however promised that next year (2027) we will consider adjustment in our quota, depending on how we perform this year, performance in terms of quota utilization, if we are able to finish using
our quarter.”
On the institutional and government response to the Saudi reform, NAHCON chairman said, “The Nigerian government has shown its full institutional way behind compliance, that
Nigeria should comply. The government emphasizes that Nigeria must remain a law-abiding partner to maintain its
diplomatic credibility and prestige. So, NAHCON is complying as much as it can.”
