The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), ranked Jigawa State among the six poorest states in Nigeria with 4.3 percent.
The Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi, has approved N1 million as a subsidy for each of the state’s intending pilgrims for the 2024 Hajj fare.
This was made known to journalists in Dutse, the state capital by the Director-General of the Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Ahmed Umar Labbo.
This is despite that Jigawa is one of Nigeria’s poorest states.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), ranked Jigawa State among the six poorest states in Nigeria with 4.3 percent.
The NBS stated in the report that “in terms of the MPl value, which captures the proportion of poor people as well as the intensity of their poverty, the poorest states are Sokoto, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Kebbi, Gombe and Yobe.”
The Bureau however stated, “We cannot say for sure which of these is the poorest, because statistically their confidence intervals (or the range within which the true value falls considering the sample overlap.”
However, the State Pilgrims Welfare Board said that the decision became imperative following the recent hike in fares by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
SaharaReporters had reported how Nigerian Muslim pilgrims who had earlier paid for a trip to Saudi Arabia for the 2024 Hajj started demanding a refund after the Hajj Commission instructed them to pay an additional N1.9 million.
The NAHCON had increased the fare for this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia by N1,918,032.91 while setting a deadline of March 28, 2024.
The commission in December 2023 fixed a fare of N4.9 million per pilgrim based on an exchange rate of N897 to a dollar.
