The National Information Technology Development Agency and the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria have agreed to fully digitise the country’s Hajj operations, promising pilgrims a smoother, technology driven journey from the point of savings to the return home. The partnership was sealed at a meeting held at NITDA’s Abuja headquarters this week.
Leading the NAHCON delegation, Chairman Ambassador Ismail Yusuf Abbas asked NITDA for technical expertise, training and guidance to upgrade the commission’s operational framework. He noted that while Saudi Arabia is racing toward full digital integration by 2030, Nigeria still grapples with bottlenecks in hybrid registration, payment verification, flight manifest management and pilgrim tracking.
Abbas pointed to existing tools such as electronic registration, automated manifests, medical tracking and the GPS enabled Hajj Companions mobile app, but admitted the commission’s technical capacity remains thin, with only two developers currently on staff. He stressed the need to train and better deploy NAHCON’s existing ICT personnel.
NITDA Director General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi welcomed the initiative, saying true digital transformation demands more than software. He called for systems that outlast individual administrations, break down data silos and lean on artificial intelligence for smarter decisions, insisting a modern framework should offer full visibility across the entire Hajj journey.
Inuwa pledged technical assistance, hands on training and strict IT project clearance to guard against the pitfalls that often derail public sector technology projects. Both agencies agreed to formalise a working relationship going forward.
The collaboration signals growing pressure on Nigerian public institutions to match the pace of digital reform being pushed by host nation Saudi Arabia ahead of the 2030 deadline.
By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed
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