Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has announced that the state will stop the sponsoring of pilgrimages, adding that some of the beneficiaries misused the privileges.
The Governor made the announcement at the hosting of the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Reverend Uja Tor Uja, who paid a courtesy visit to him in Akure.
According to him; “It’s time to stop using pilgrimages for business trips.’
He explained that paucity of funds and the need for prudent management of scarce resources necessitated the stoppage of sponsoring intending pilgrims to Israel and Mecca.
He also added that it became necessary for the government to stop the sponsorship because beneficiaries misplaced the priority of the exercise.
According to him the state Christian Welfare Board would soon be constituted to encourage churches and wealthy individuals to sponsor intending pilgrims.
Akeredolu also lauded the commission for the initiative of taking Christians to Israel to learn their agricultural system. He, however, warned that mixing pilgrimage and business trips would amount to loss of focus on the part of those involved in such misplaced priorities.
Lagos state has already announced that it government have been able to save about N2billion in putting an end to state sponsored pilgrims.
