By Ngozi Nwankwo
As part of its overall quest to develop capacity in its workforce, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, NCPC is reinforcing commitment in achieving more robust and zero tolerance abscondment in subsequent pilgrimage exercises.
The Commission, in a communiqué reached after a 4-day retreat held in Jos, had resolved to linkage with State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board to achieve more positive outcomes in its pilgrimage processes.
It also resolved that all the screening exercises should be led by very senior and experienced officers to avoid the incidents of abscondment.
To tightening its workforce, NCPC said the Commission should evolve an effective screening system at different levels its operations.
Other resolutions as contained in the communiqué include: “That the Commission design and develop a whistle-blowing mechanism for Staff of the Commission perceived to be involved in aiding the abscondment of a pilgrim.
“That all intending pilgrims should be thoroughly screen, but where it becomes impossible to physically screen any intending pilgrim, should be screened via Zoom in order to beat Visa application deadlines.
“Pilgrims forms for use by State Christian Pilgrims welfare Boards should be carefully and thoroughly harmonized across various States and approved by the Commission before use by such States.
” That all States Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board should be made to realise that pilgrims who have been airlifted by the Commission to various Holy Sites should be seen as Nigerian pilgrims and not the limited view of seeing such pilgrims as belonging to a particular state. Accordingly, in this respect, SCPWBs should work closely with the Commission’s Staff in order to ensure a smooth pilgrimage including deliberate actions to minimize abscondment at all time.”
NCPC is also making plans that any Secretary of State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, SCPWBs, who desires to guarantee an intending pilgrim should not be allowed to guarantee more than two pilgrims
It explained that pilgrims to be so guaranteed; and where the SCPWBs desires to provide guarantee for more than two,then he should be made to submit a written undertaking to the Executive Secretary of NCPC to that effect and the ES of NCPC will examine such and reach a decision as appropriate in the circumstances.
According to the Commission, staff on screening exercise to Zonal Offices should leverage on the knowledge of the staff of such Zonal Offices of the local environment to guide them.
“Two staff or atleast one staff who carried out the screening of any pilgrims should be made to accompany such pilgrims whenever they are travelling; this is to apply any knowledge gained during the screening for monitoring of those pilgrims.
“In this respect the name of any suspected pilgrims should be compiled and given to staff traveling with them to nip any attempt to escape on the part of the pilgrims.
xv. In this respect, the ratio of staff in any bus should increased in order to curtail attempts of escaping.
” Staff on screening assignments should be thoroughly tutored on the art of report writing, to be able to capture all details of the screening exercise to minimize abscondment. Accordingly, staff who delay submitting reports after a screening will be thoroughly disciplined in line with extant rules and regulations.
” Intelligence gathering on pilgrims with two passports should be intensified. Pilgrims renewed passports should be double-checked intensely to ensure that they do not submit the expired passport while still using the valid passport to aid abscondment. In this respect, any pilgrim submitting an expired passport should be automatically seen as a potential absconder.