One year after, Kano fire victims yet to receive assistance
One year after the inauguration of the appeal fund committee for the victims of the famous Sabon-Gari market in Kano State, the affected traders have continued to languish in hardship as they await assistance from government and individual donors.
Fourteen days after the disaster, the Kano State Government inaugurated an appeal fund committee headed by a renowned businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, with a view to generating funds for the victims.
The Dangote-led committee, which was inaugurated on Monday, April 4, 2016, was expected to mobilise funds from federal and state governments, as well as corporate organisations within and outside the country for the affected traders.
While inaugurating the committee, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said victims of fire outbreak at Yankatako, Singer, Farm Centre and Kurmi markets would also be assisted with the fund that would be generated.
The committee was also saddled with the responsibility of identifying the exact number of traders affected by the disaster and providing recommendations that would prevent a reoccurrence of the unfortunate disaster in the state.
The committee was given only six weeks to complete its assignment and submit its report to the government. The chairman of the committee, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had assured the state government of the committee’s readiness to assist the affected traders.
“With the caliber of personalities as members of the committee, I can assure the governor, government and the people of Kano State that we will not fail in the assignment given to us. Despite the economic hardships, we will do our best to mobilise funds for the victims of the disaster.
“The disaster has touched our lives. We will use our connections to reach to whoever we believe can assist and collect donation for the victims of the disaster,” he assured.
But one year after the inauguration of the committee, the affected traders have lamented that even the N500million the Kano State Government promised was yet to be released, while the highpowered fund raising committee has kept mum about how far it has gone in its responsibility.
For Malam Isa Ibrahim, the market fire is still burning as he is still unable to get back to business. He said, “For many of us here, the fire is still burning because what has rendered us incapacitated in business is still with us. Most of us now live on the mercies of other traders.
“Look around and see for yourself. Yes, many shops are renovated, but you don’t see anything inside. We are no longer the free men and women we used to be, and the authorities concerned care less about what befell us. We are in dire need of assistance, and we hope we would not be abandoned by those we thought could protect us.”
Another victim, Alhaji Bala Abdu Makama, claimed that if the much-awaited assistance failed to come, many traders like him would be left with no other option than to look for an alternative to make a living. Alhaji Bala, who said he had to change his trade from the sale of baby wares to that of rubber products, further said that life had been very difficult for most of the victims.
“Go inside the market and see for yourself. There are many people like me who have changed trade from what they were doing before to something different. I was dealing in baby wares, but now, circumstances made it mandatory for me to change to rubber. Victims of this fire disaster are in dire need of assistance unless government and the business community in Kano State want us to die of hunger,” Makama said.
Alhaji Ali Bagadaza, who is the chairman of the resettlement committee set up by the Kano State Government, expressed concern over the silence of the Dangote committee, saying, “Since the committee was set up in April last year, it has never convened any meeting.”
He added that besides Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and 17 governors who made promises, only the governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari was able to send in his donation of N10million.
“The inferno consumed goods, cash and structures, all estimated at over N3 trillion. After the incident we pleaded with the governor to allow us rebuild our shops. We rebuilt the market to modern standard out of our resources. Some sold their houses, others borrowed from banks and individuals, yet up till now they have not been able to re-establish their businesses.
“Presently, hardly would you find two out of three shop owners that are free of litigation in courts as a result of this market inferno. The situation is terrible,’’ Bagadaza lamented.
He said that so far, the Kasuwar Barci Kaduna donated N1million, National Association of Izala N200, 000, Kwari market N100, 000, Dawanau grains market N600,000 and Sheikh Isiaka Rabui N6million.
He lamented that the N500m the Kano State Government promised had remained a mere pronouncement as the account in which the money is said to have been lodged remains unknown to the victims of the inferno.
On the Dangote-led committee, he said, “We have approached Bashir Tofa, who is the deputy chairman of the committee, and stated our challenges, but he told us that since the inauguration of the committee, Dangote has never called for a meeting.”
Bagadaza, who was recently invited for a public hearing over the concerns of the victims of the disaster at the National Assembly, however, expressed hope that the hearing may yield positive result very soon.
Daily Trust on Sunday observed that some of the affected shop owners are still finding it extremely difficult to re-establish their businesses. Although the affected parts of the market along C, D, L and M lines have been rebuilt and business activities already picked up in some sections, some of the shops are yet to be stocked with goods due to lack of fund.
Also commenting on the issue, the Sarkin Kasuwa of Abubakar Rimi market, Alhaji Nafi’u Nuhu Indabo, revealed that the issue of assistance to the victims of the fire incidence had been very contradictory, to the extent that most of the victims have decided to give up hope.
He said the condition of the traders was really pathetic as most of them hardly make ends meet. “Let me tell you what really happened. After the assistance sourcing committee failed to deliver the mandate assigned to it after the expiration of the six weeks given to it, the Kano State Government called us and pronounced that as an emergency intervention to save the business community, it had donated N75 million to small traders affected in the market inferno.
“After that, the state government said it had approved N500m for the traders as part of her assistance. The irony here remains that we have not received a single penny out of the money promised us over a year ago, amounting to N575 million,” said Sarkin Kasuwa.
He, however, said the state Commissioner for Finance told them that the money had been released and an account opened to that effect. He added that on its own part, the market committee on the fire incidence had collected some donations from well-meaning Nigerians, but up till this moment, no details of account was made known to the committee to remit the money it collected.
“We are yet to get the details of the newly opened account where the N575m is said to have been deposited by the state Commissioner for Finance. We have requested for the account details, but we were not given. The whole issue is getting complicated. And let me tell you, many of the affected traders cannot even put back their stall’s structures, not to talk of having capital to start the business all over again.
“Most of the restructuring work was done collectively by the traders in order to assist one another. To be honest with you, things are not going the way we expected it,” Sarkin Kasuwa stated.
On Friday, March 25, 2016, the Sabon-Gari market was engulfed by fire, which destroyed goods worth over N2 trillion, according to Sarkin Kasuwar Kano, Alhaji Nafi’u Nuhu Indabo.
Indabo had said that the fire, which razed almost 75 per cent of the market, took officials of the Kano State Fire Service, the affected traders and sympathizers almost three days to quench. He added that blocks A to L and about 28,000 temporary shops in the market were completely destroyed by the inferno.
Also, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Sani Sidi, described the inferno as the biggest disaster Nigeria ever witnessed, saying that 3,800 shops were burnt down.