By Idris Salisu
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesome Wike, has pledged the sum of half a billion naira to support the government of Sokoto State to rebuild the Sokoto Central market which was ravaged by fire on Tuesday morning.
Part of the money, the Governor added, will be disbursed to victims of the inferno to help them recover from losses incurred in the incident.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser Media and Publicity to Sokoto State Governor, Muhammad Bello, on Wednesday, said Wike, who visited Sokoto barely 24 hours after the disaster, said he was shocked and disturbed when he learnt about it.
He said whatever affects the state also affects Rivers, and therefore, his administration would do all it takes to ensure that the affected market is reconstructed and becomes functional.
The Governor said a situation where the means of livelihood of the people of Sokoto State, the drive of the government to improve the people’s lives and a broad spectrum of socio-economic wellbeing of many people will be affected does not augur well for development and progress.
Earlier, in his remarks, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while conducting Gov. Wike and his entourage around the fire disaster scene, explained that the gutted market has 16,000 shops out of which “at least 60 per cent were affected by the fire.”
He said when the fire broke out, the entire state government’s apparatus and some from the federal government were mobilised to control it.
After inspecting the scene, Gov. Wike and his entourage also paid a courtesy visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, in his palace where he condoled the state government, the Sultanate Council and the people of Sokoto State over the death of the late Commissioner for Home Affairs, Hon. Abdulkadir Jeli Abubakar, who was the junior brother of the Sultan.
In his response, Sultan Abubakar, applauded Gov. Tambuwal for his prudent management of the state’s resources, a performance which fetched it a World Bank grant under the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.
While noting the age-long relationship between Sokoto and Rivers states, the Sultan expressed gratitude to Wike for his visit and support to the state. He described him as an excellent achiever who is still executing superb projects which has earned him the title of Mr Projects.