The Yobe State government has pledged to donate rams and clothings (Ihram) to pilgrims from the state participating in this year’s Hajj to Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the inauguration of the state’s official delegation to the 2013 Hajj, the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, said government’s decision to support the state’s pilgrims is to reduce cost for the participants.

“Our decision to support the pilgrims is informed by the fact that if everything is left to the individual pilgrim to shoulder, the cost will be too prohibitive. Moreover, the performance of the Hajj is the only single event where the largest numbers of our citizens travel abroad as a group for a common purpose,” he said.

In addition, the governor promised that the state will provide free meals at the height of the Hajj exercise in Muna and Arafat.

He urged the pilgrims to focus on their primary duty of performing the Hajj and to use the opportunity to pray for peace and progress of the state and the nation in general.

He also charged the state’s Amirul Hajj, the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adamu Dala Dogo, to ensure the welfare of the state’s pilgrims and also guide the pilgrims to conduct themselves with modesty as ambassadors of the state and the country while in the holy land.

In his response, Dogo assured the governor that his team will do its utmost to see to the welfare of the pilgrims.