Why Dino Melaye Wants FG To Stop Funding Trips To Mecca And Jerusalem

Former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, has called on the Federal Government to stop using public funds to sponsor Nigerians on religious pilgrimages to Mecca and Israel.

According to a report by Daily Post on November 9, 2026, the former lawmaker shared his views during a recent social media interview, arguing that taxpayers’ money should be used to fix the country’s pressing development problems instead of funding spiritual trips.

Melaye insisted that faith and a person’s relationship with God are strictly private matters. Rather than dipping into the national treasury, he stated that churches, mosques, and wealthy citizens should bear the cost of sending worshipers on pilgrimages.

He pointed out that neither the Quran nor the Bible makes visiting Mecca, performing Umrah, or traveling to Israel a requirement for making heaven.

“That is the function of churches. That is the function of billionaires who have made money who can sponsor people on religious pilgrimage,” Melaye said.

The former senator questioned why the government continues to spend hundreds of billions of naira every year on trips to Jerusalem and Mecca while critical infrastructure back home remains in poor condition. He pointed to the failing state of Nigeria’s roads and hospitals as areas that desperately need those funds.

“What is the business of government with religion? That we are spending hundreds of billions annually to send people to Mecca and Jerusalem? And you go and pray and come back and continue in your sin,” he added.

To question the sincerity of some pilgrims and highlight that traveling to holy lands does not automatically make someone righteous, Melaye noted that even in Jerusalem, right near the prayer sites around Mount Sinai, there is a brothel (“ashawo” joint) operating nearby.

While describing himself as a spiritual man, Melaye maintained that personal beliefs must never replace the government’s duty to serve the public. He criticized those who get defensive whenever religious funding is questioned, describing such reactions as short-sighted.

To back up his point, he cited the United Nations General Assembly, noting that the global body operates successfully without opening or closing prayers because religion is treated as an individual affair.

“Because I repeat, on Judgment Day, it shall be you and your God. Federal government will have no role to play,” Melaye stated.

He urged the government to immediately reset its priorities by putting public money into reviving the economy, upgrading technology, funding education, and supporting small-scale industries across the country.

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