The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration is planning to build permanent Christian pilgrims camp, Minister of State, Olajumoke Akinjide disclosed on Tuesday.
She told a delegation of Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) that 1,500 Christian pilgrims would be airlifted by the FCT Administration to the Holyland to perform this year’s pilgrimage.
The delegation led by the Commission’s Executive Secretary, John Kennedy Opara, was in her office on a sensitisation visit.
Akinjide said the administration had approved a land for the construction of a Permanent Christian Pilgrims Camp in order to cope with the increasing number of pilgrims that would be going to Israel for the pilgrimage.
She commended the NCPC for the successful Christian pilgrimage operations over the years which, she stated, had made the pilgrimage a tool for transformation of individuals, families and the nation.
“The Christian pilgrimage now extends to Rome and Greece as against Israel only, which demonstrates a remarkable achievement by the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission. At the FCT level, the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board has been doing well since its inception.
“It will interest you to know that the number of pilgrims has risen from 20 to over 1,000 over the years. During the 2013 Christian Pilgrimage, FCT intends to airlift 1,500 pilgrims, in view of the increasing awareness and its importance among the FCT residents,” said Akinjide, who oversees the FCT Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board.
She assured that the FCT Administration would continue to collaborate with the NCPC towards ensuring better pilgrimage operations and national development.
The NCPC Executive Secretary had earlier in his remarks stated that 1,500 slots had been allocated to FCT for this year’s Christian pilgrimage.
“I want to commend the FCT Administration for sponsoring over 900 Christian pilgrims to the Holyland in 2012. We have allocated 1,500 seats to FCT for this year.
“The Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission is giving people the privilege to be morally and spiritually transformed to be able to contribute their quota to the transformation agenda of Mr. President,” Opara explained.
He disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan would attend this year’s pilgrimage and encouraged Christians to take advantage of the opportunity to have a better understanding of the Bible.
