News reaching our news desk suggests that seven states in the North declined to sponsor Christian Pilgrims in 2012.
The culpable states were listed as Jigawa, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and Gombe states. This finding was made known when a delegation, led by the CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The report confirmed that a total of 16,372 Nigerians participated in the Christian pilgrimage and that the above mentioned states did not sponsor any Christian pilgrims.

After listening to their presentation, the president promised to discuss with the states and maintained that the Federal Government could not force any state government to sponsor pilgrims if they did not want to do so.
But cautioned that a decision not to sponsor pilgrims must affect both Christian and Muslim pilgrims and not Christians alone.
He said: “Government cannot force state governments to sponsor pilgrims if they don’t want to do so. If they decide to pull out from sponsoring pilgrims, there is nothing we can do. But if some state governments are sponsoring pilgrims of one religion and leaving out the other, that is against the law. Nigeria is a secular state and so nobody should be discriminated against based on religious belief.”

The president  commended the National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) for its efforts in winning the confidence of the authorities. “I am pleased to hear that the authorities now rely on the commission to issue visas to intending pilgrims, as was not the practice before. It is a sign that the Italin authorities now have confidence in the commission and indeed, in the country,” he said.

News reaching our news desk suggests that seven states in the North declined to sponsor Christian Pilgrims in 2012. 
The culpable states were listed as Jigawa, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and Gombe states. This finding was made known when a delegation, led by the CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The report confirmed that a total of 16,372 Nigerians participated in the Christian pilgrimage and that the above mentioned states did not sponsor any Christian pilgrims.

After listening to their presentation, the president promised to discuss with the states and maintained that the Federal Government could not force any state government to sponsor pilgrims if they did not want to do so.
But cautioned that a decision not to sponsor pilgrims must affect both Christian and Muslim pilgrims and not Christians alone.
He said: “Government cannot force state governments to sponsor pilgrims if they don’t want to do so. If they decide to pull out from sponsoring pilgrims, there is nothing we can do. But if some state governments are sponsoring pilgrims of one religion and leaving out the other, that is against the law. Nigeria is a secular state and so nobody should be discriminated against based on religious belief.”

The president  commended the National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) for its efforts in winning the confidence of the authorities. “I am pleased to hear that the authorities now rely on the commission to issue visas to intending pilgrims, as was not the practice before. It is a sign that the Italin authorities now have confidence in the commission and indeed, in the country,” he said.

He also commended the NCPC for drastically reducing cases where pilgrims abscond during the exercise in the holy land and expressed satisfaction with the improvements made in the organisation. Indicating interest to attend the 2013 pilgrimage, the president averred that it would afford him the opportunity to engage authorities of the State of Israel on the need for a Bilateral Air Service Agreement between Nigeria and Israel to make logistics between the two countries less onerous.

In closing, Pastor Oritsejafor confirmed there was a drastic reduction in the number of Christians pilgrims in 2012 compared with previous years. He requested that the Federal Government delegation for the pilgrimage year, be inaugurated early enough to give them sufficient time to plan.

Pastor Oritsejafor was accompanied by the Chairman of the NCPC, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh; the Executive Secretary, Mr. John Okpara; the Chaplain to the President, Ven. Obioma Onwuzuruba; Minister of Water Resources Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe and other members of the 11-man Federal Government delegation.

By Istifanus Bulus

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Ayo Oritsejafor: Seven Northern states refuse to sponsor Christian Pilgrims