Katsina’s ₦3.8B Hajj Loan: Politics Twisting Religion While Children Suffer

I believe religion can instil discipline, diligence and growth. Yet in Katsina, the state’s approval of a ₦3.8 billion loan to fund Hajj pilgrims shows a faith hijacked by politics. Leaders seem more concerned with securing pilgrimage slots than feeding or educating a hungry population. UNICEF reports that 300,000 children in the state are out of school. A recent health survey shows 64.6% of children are stunted and one in six dies before their fifth birthday. These figures demand urgent investment in health, nutrition and education. Scholar Max Weber and later researchers linked religious values to industry and frugality. But when charlatans and politicians misuse religion, it enriches the powerful and neglects the vulnerable. True spiritual duty calls for feeding orphans and the poor—not political grandstanding. It is time for pilgrims to refuse this humiliating gift. Redirect these funds to schools, child protection and nutrition programs. That is the steep path true faith prescribes.

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