Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recounted a detailed interaction with the late Sultan of Sokoto, Siddiq Abubakar III, over Nigeria’s pilgrimage funding crisis in the mid-1970s, revealing how delicate negotiations helped reshape the number of government-sponsored pilgrims travelling to Mecca.
Obasanjo made the revelation during a media interview on Channels TV, where he explained that the federal government was facing severe foreign exchange constraints at the time, forcing it to reassess the scale of public funding for religious pilgrimage.
According to him, the situation required careful handling due to the sensitivity surrounding religious obligations and public expectations.
“I was in Sokoto, and the Sultan said to me, ‘How many people do you want to go to Mecca?’” Obasanjo recalled. “I said, ‘Sir, I’m not the one to determine the number of people who will go to Mecca, but we cannot support 150,000.’”
He explained that the Sultan pressed further for clarity on what the government could realistically fund under the prevailing economic conditions.
“And he said, ‘How many can you support?’ I said, ‘Sir, I don’t want to mention any number.’ He said, ‘You can go,’” Obasanjo said, describing the exchange as tense but respectful, given the political and religious implications involved.
Following the meeting, Obasanjo said the Sultan independently initiated steps to address the issue by establishing a committee to manage the adjustment in pilgrimage numbers.
“The Sultan set up a committee, and that year, 48,000 people went to Mecca, and my hand was not in it. I was not blamed for it. It was accepted,” he added.
Obasanjo explained that the reduction in numbers was not arbitrary but driven by Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions at the time, which made it impossible to sustain the previous level of foreign exchange allocation for pilgrimage support.
He noted that in the preceding year, about 150,000 Nigerians had travelled to Mecca with government backing, but by 1977, the country’s financial situation had deteriorated significantly, necessitating urgent policy adjustments.
The former president emphasized that the episode reflected how government decisions during economic hardship often required cooperation between political leaders and traditional authorities to ensure public acceptance.
Start Watching The Video Quote Stamp From Minute 13:43 To 13:50.
