By Innocent Odoh The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) has commenced the airlift of the first batch of intending pilgrims to Israel under its youth and family pilgrimage programme.
The intending pilgrims departed on 29th August, 2016 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 1pm local time a statement issued on Tuesday by the head of the media section of the commission, Celestine Oguguo, said.
This first batch of youth and family pilgrims was led by the Executive Secretary of NCPC, Rev. Uja Tor Uja.
While fielding questions from newsmen at the Airport before departure, Rev. Uja described this year’s youth and family pilgrimage as exploratory pilgrimage as it would give him the opportunity to effect changes on the entire pilgrimage process. His words: “the process is due for major overhauling of our pilgrimage process”.
He hinted on his intention to reduce the cost of pilgrimage exercise. According to him: “we are set to reduce cost by 30 percent,” stressing “we are very firm that all the cost must come down”.
On the safety and welfare of the pilgrims, the NCPC boss said he would never compromise on the safety and welfare of Nigerian pilgrims. His words: “anywhere there is crisis, Nigerians should not be taken there, Nigerians deserve to be protected anywhere in the world”. He affirmed, “I can guarantee you comfort and welfare”.
Rev. Uja also spoke on his recent tour of Northern and Southern Israel to explore the rich agricultural endowment of Israel with a view to replicating it back here in Nigeria, especially with the plan of introducing farmers’ pilgrimage.
He further spoke on the need for every Nigerian pilgrim to wear Nigeria as a national symbol. He explained that he had directed all the Ground Handlers in Israel to ensure that all their souvenirs should also be in Nigeria national symbols, the statement said.
Rev. Uja affirmed that there was no nation on earth that is experiencing the kind of revival that is going on in Nigeria. To this end, he stressed that Nigeria should be put on a proper pedestal in the comity of nations, the statement added.
