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President Goodluck
Jonathan has appealed to religious leaders in the country to pray for a
successful conduct of the forthcoming general elections, in view of the
activities of “desperate politicians” who are ready to kill for
political gains.

He made this call
yesterday when he received the 2010 Hajj operations report presented to
him by the head of the federal government delegation and Amirul Hajj,
the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, at the Council Chamber
of the State House, Abuja.

“This is a period
that we require your prayers more because we have individuals sometimes
that are quite desperate and who want to kill, who want to maim people
because of political office,” Mr. Jonathan said.

“There is nothing
Allah can’t do. Your prayers will help to reduce these excesses of some
of us who are politicians. I believe that the religious leaders have
roles to play in shaping our polity and you can admonish us to keep
away from politics of tribalism, politics of ethnicity, and of course,
the issue of religious intolerance that are somehow becoming a key
factor in our day-to-day activity,” he added.

The president said
the report is coming at a most auspicious time because of the political
activities going on in the states. He promised to study the report and
utilise the recommendations in order to properly regulate the Hajj
operations, stating that his administration decided to institutionalise
the office of the Amirul-Hajj in order to modify the Hajj operation in
line with exigencies of the period.

A smoother Hajj

The Sultan, who led
the delegation, thanked Mr. Jonathan for the opportunity given to them
to serve the country and recommended modalities on how to improve on
the exercise.

He also called on
government to examine the report of the committee which contained the
challenges faced, with a view to improving on subsequent Hajj
operations.

The Sultan said the
report is to also help the Federal Government commit less financial
resources in future, as well as strengthen the National Hajj Commission
of Nigeria to perform more effectively.

He said even though
the 2010 exercise was successful, the delegation faced many challenges
such as the new feeding arrangement at Muna and Arafat and the
transportation system newly introduced by the Saudi authorities.