However, more than three weeks after their arrival in Saudi Arabia, the personnel remain inactive, with no clinics set up for them to operate.
Thousands of Nigerian pilgrims currently in Makkah and Madinah for the 2025 Hajj have been left without access to clinics, despite the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) spending billions of naira to sponsor 300 medical personnel and procure drugs.
According to federal and state Hajj officials, as well as some pilgrims, the usual government-run clinics are absent this year, leaving approximately 60,000 Nigerian pilgrims without direct medical support from their home country.
On April 24, NAHCON inaugurated its National Medical Team in Abuja, led by Dr. Saidu Ahmad Dumbulwa, to oversee the screening and deployment of medical personnel for the pilgrimage. The commission approved over 300 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, for this year’s exercise.
However, more than three weeks after their arrival in Saudi Arabia, the personnel remain inactive, with no clinics set up for them to operate.
This deployment marks the largest medical team in NAHCON’s history, both in terms of personnel-to-pilgrim ratio and global scale.
Stakeholders allege that the NAHCON leadership has exploited the medical team as a smokescreen to ferry allies and family members to Saudi Arabia under the guise of providing healthcare services for pilgrims.
This allegation comes despite earlier assurances from the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, who, during an inspection of NAHCON’s medical arrangements in the kingdom on March 25, 2025, pledged improved medical support for Nigerian pilgrims.
In a statement issued by NAHCON’s Head of Public Affairs, Muhammad Musa, Professor Pate was quoted as saying, “Given the global health landscape-ranging from meningitis outbreaks to polio concerns, it is imperative we meet and exceed Saudi Arabia’s health requirements.”
Nigerian pilgrims began arriving in Madinah on May 9, 2025, but nearly three weeks later, NAHCON had yet to establish a single functioning clinic in either Madinah or Makkah as of Tuesday.
Private Clinics at Personal Cost
This failure has forced many pilgrims requiring medical attention to seek care at private Saudi clinics—often at high personal cost—or endure long waits at public hospitals.
What initially appeared to be a delay confined to Madinah has now spread to Makkah, where over 90 per cent of Nigerian pilgrims have converged in preparation for the Hajj.
Investigations reveal that NAHCON’s inability to secure the required operating licences from Saudi authorities has stalled the establishment of the clinics.
This marks the first time in the commission’s history that Nigerian pilgrims have been left without dedicated medical facilities in both holy cities—a lapse critics attribute to poor leadership.
The Nigerian medical mission is currently led by Dr. Sani Garba, with Abdullahi Danzabuwa overseeing pharmacy operations and Jummai Momoh heading the nursing unit.
A top official of a state pilgrims’ welfare board, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, disclosed that NAHCON had contracted a Saudi firm to process the clinic licences—deviating from the traditional government-to-government approach, which has raised further concerns.
“Unfortunately, the Saudi firm has failed to obtain the licences for the clinics both in Madinah and now in Makkah, leaving pilgrims groaning without anywhere to go,” the executive secretary stated.
Officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) have confirmed to this newspaper that the commission collected six Saudi Riyals from each of the over 60,000 Nigerian pilgrims to cover clinic services—amounting to a total of 360,000 Riyals. At the prevailing parallel market exchange rate of ₦430 to a Riyal, this translates to over ₦155 million, which was reportedly paid to a Saudi firm.
Despite this payment, Nigerian pilgrims in need of medical attention are currently relying on healthcare services provided by medical personnel deployed by state pilgrims’ welfare boards—a practice that contravenes Saudi regulations.
“The small medical teams and drugs provided by some state pilgrim boards are the only comfort for our pilgrims needing urgent medical care,” another official in the commission remarked.
This senior official added, “Madinah was a mess. We have never had it this bad. The Saudi authorities are very angry with Nigeria over numerous irregularities that the NAHCON leadership has committed this year.”
Stakeholders have expressed outrage over the enormous resources spent on a medical team that remains idle in the holy land.
According to reports, NAHCON may have spent at least ₦10 million on each of the 300 medical personnel, covering costs for official Hajj visas, return airfare, Masha’ir services, accommodation, and a $2,000 basic travel allowance (BTA). The total expenditure is estimated at around ₦3 billion.
Insiders noted that in previous years, medical clinics in Makkah and Madinah were typically set up in advance by the commission’s Advance or Reception Team ahead of the pilgrims’ arrival.
“The process used to be seamless in the past when Dr Ibrahim Kana and his team were in charge of the medical team,” a state official said.
The absence of a central medical coordination system is expected to hinder the accurate collection of critical data on mortality and other health-related statistics essential for the commission’s review and future planning.
Sources within the system suggest that the Saudi authorities may have withheld approval for clinic operations after discovering that the Nigerian medical team was inflated with non-medical personnel, leaving several qualified professionals without any assigned duties.
Concerned stakeholders have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the composition of the national medical team, its failure to establish functional clinics in Makkah and Madinah, and the multi-billion-naira budget spent on the initiative.
“To enhance transparency and accountability, the EFCC and ICPC must urgently probe this medical team scandal. It is Nigerians’ money. They paid for clinic services that were denied. Whoever is responsible must be held accountable as a deterrent to others,” a NAHCON official stated.
Attempts to contact NAHCON for comments were unsuccessful, as the mobile phone of Fatima Sanda Usara, Assistant Director of Information and Publication, was unreachable, indicating she may be in Saudi Arabia.
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