HAJJ: NAWOJ President Calls for Special Considerations for Female Journalists
President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, Comrade Aisha Ibrahim has called for special considerations for female journalists covering the Hajj beat.
Comrade Aisha Ibrahim made the call in a statement issued in Saudi Arabia.
She said covering the Hajj was fulfilling as it not only provided an opportunity to perform the Hajj, which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam, but also presented an opportunity to serve humanity, adding however that covering the spiritual exercise remained one of the most difficult beats, given the physical stress for 35 to 40 days.
The President who is on an official assignment to cover the Hajj for her state, Borno State, as the Director of Information, Borno State Hajj Commission, emphasized that there are many issues and occurrences concerning women during the Hajj that could best be handled by only women.
She noted that Hajj is a gathering of people with diverse cultures and backgrounds, some of whom usually faced different challenges during the exercise, and urged the National Hajj Commission as well as those of the states to put such considerations in future plannings
The NAWOJ President also urged States to borrow the Borno state model, which usually had both male and female journalists covering the HAJJ exercise every year.
Hajj is a gathering of millions of Muslim faithful from all over the world, and has continued to provide opportunity to meet people from different parts of the world, fostering relationships with the outside world and broadening knowledge.