Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has charged the 1,007 intending pilgrims for 2024 hajj from the state to be good ambassadors of the state and Nigeria.
The governor charged them to follow laid down rules and avoid any act capable of tarnishing the image of the state and the country.
He also urged them to focus on the main purpose of their mission to the Holy Land, spend their money wisely and look out for one another.
The governor, who stated this during the farewell ceremony for the Oyo State Hajj 2024 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, held at the Exhibition Ground of the Broadcasting Service, Ibadan, also tasked them to make supplications to Allah for the government, the state and Nigeria.
He congratulated the intending pilgrims for being able to embark on the hajj, saying his government supported the Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim Wing) under the chairmanship of Sheik Wahab Hashim Ateere, to plan a seamless Hajj 2024.
He further challenged the state’s hajj officials not to compromise the welfare of the pilgrims, admonishing them to ensure the safety of all pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
He added that since his assumption of office in 2019, his administration had been doing everything possible to ensure religious fairness and that he will continue to make sure every religion in the state gets its due.
He said, “I am happy to be here this afternoon. We are supposed to be at the Hajj Camp at Olodo. The only reason we are here today is because we had to demolish the bridge that links Olodo but by the end of this week, one side will be opened for vehicular movement.
“Before the 2025 Hajj, the two sides would have been opened and the road from Iwo Road to Olodo would have been completed. That of next year will be better.
“Also, the first time I went to Olodo, I said our pilgrims will be airlifted from the Ibadan Airport before I leave the seat of power. Yes, we have been at it and it’s been five years now.’’