The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin has sympathised with the victims, who lost their properties and goods at the fire incident that razed shops in Dugbe market, Ibadan.
In a Statement signed by him, Ogundoyin described the incident as unfortunate, adding that the economic lost at a period when the world is fighting hard against global pandemic of COVID-19 and possible recession is a big blow on the victims’ households and the State.
According to him, the State government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde has visited the market, commiserated with the victims and promised to get to the roots of the incident.
Governor Makinde, who was accompanied by a number of government officials, told the victims and a crowd of sympathisers, who had converged on the location to possibly salvage remnants of their wares, that the state government would launch an emergency fund to address disasters and emergencies.
He, however, stated that there was the need for the State to have a Disaster Management Endowment Fund that will address such unforeseen contingencies.
He said: “I commiserate with the people that are affected. At such a time like this, this is the least of the things that we expect because we still are battling with COVID-19 and its social and economic impacts.
“So, we believe there is a need for the State to have an endowment fund for disasters. If such an endowment exists, right now, we would have given an immediate palliative to the people concerned.
“Meanwhile, we will try our best to see what we can do within the challenges we are facing.”
The governor said that at a time the State is still fighting to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, such an unfortunate occurrence like the Dugbe fire disaster was surely going to overstretch the state government.
He also admonished shop owners and residents of the State to always apply precautions and safety measures within their environments so as to avert unforeseen circumstances.
