Kwara State has flagged off its 2026 Hajj airlift with the successful departure of the first batch of 374 pilgrims from the General Tunde Idi-Agbon International Airport in Ilorin, as Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq urged all 1,714 Kwara pilgrims taking part in this year’s exercise to conduct themselves with dignity, comply fully with Saudi Arabian regulations, and represent the state and the country honorably throughout their pilgrimage.
The governor, represented at the ceremony by his Special Adviser and Senior Counsellor, Saadu Salaudeen, urged the pilgrims to offer prayers for the peace and progress of the country and Kwara State specifically during their time in the Holy Land, and charged them to follow all directives from the State Amirul Hajj, the Etsu Tsaragi, Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu, who was appointed to lead the delegation.
The Etsu Tsaragi pledged before the governor’s representative to give the welfare and wellbeing of Kwara pilgrims his full personal attention throughout the exercise, reaffirming a commitment he had made publicly at the time of his appointment.
The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, confirmed that medical doctors and nurses would accompany the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and that arrangements had been made for local food items including yam flour and gari to be taken aboard to ensure pilgrims retained the comfort of familiar meals throughout their stay in the Holy Land.
