Nigeria: All International Airports to Get Pilgrims Camps – Jonathan

Nigeria: All International Airports to Get Pilgrims Camps – Jonathan

Goodluck-Jonathan1Leadership, Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday directed that henceforth, pilgrims camps should be built inside all international airports across the country.

Speaking when he received the report of the federal government’s delegation to the 2013 Christian pilgrimage, Jonathan noted that after consultation with relevant ministers, the federal government would start budgeting for the facilities so that all affected airports would be covered.

Explaining why the planned building of the pilgrims camps was necessary, the President told the 11-man delegation led by the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor that the facilities could also be used for other purposes whenever they were not deployed for pilgrimage.

He said, “Pilgrims camps should be built inside all international airports in Nigeria. We must build these facilities for both Christian and Muslim pilgrims since many people are being moved about the same time every year, government must take step to provide such facilities.

“Such facilities can also be used for other things during the period they are not deployed for pilgrimage. We will discuss with the ministers and we will begin to budget for it so that gradually, we will begin to provide the facilities in all our international airports especially the ones that are being used for this purpose.”

He further hinted that the government would ensure that the implementation of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement with the State of Israel succeeds in order to ease the movement of pilgrims.

Accordingly, Jonathan directed Vice President Namadi Sambo to discuss at the level of the National Economic Council with state governors who were yet to sponsor Christian pilgrims.

The president’s directive was in reaction to Oritsejafor’s report in which he listed Kano, Katsina, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara as states that refused to sponsor pilgrims in 2013.

Jonathan said, “For the states that don’t sponsor pilgrimages, the Vice President will talk to the governors. There is no state in this country where there are no people with different faiths. State funds are general funds, the country is a secular state. So either you are a Christian or Muslim governor, you are spending money that belongs to all Nigerians.

“Even if your state is 99.99 Christians and there is only one Muslim there, he has to be protected. So also if your state is 99.99 Muslims and there is only one Christian, he has to be protected.”

Earlier, Oritsejafor told the President that answers to the prayers rendered during the last pilgrimage would soon be felt across the country.

While commending the President for taking part in the last exercise, he urged him to make his participation an annual event.

He said 27 states including the Federal Capital Territory participated in the exercise with a total of 14,833 pilgrims.

Categories: Politics
Tags: Nigeria

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