News
Market Fire: Dangote Provides Succor, Donates N.5billion to Distraught Kano Traders
Succor came the way of the over a thousand hitherto dejected traders affected by the Kano Market fire disasters few months ago as the renowned business mogul, Aliko Dangote made good his promise and donated a whooping sum of N500m to rehabilitate them.
Aliko’s donation which came through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, was in response to the appeal by the Kano state government for contributions from public spirited individuals and corporate organizations to help the fire victims come back to business.
No fewer than seven fire disasters have occurred in five major markets across the state within the past few months with no fewer than 1,400 shops and goods estimated at N28 billion gutted by the inferno.
It would be recalled that the state government had in the wake of the last disaster in February, which affected Singa market, set up a judicial commission of enquiry and an appeal committee headed by Alhaji Dangote and another businessman, Usman Tofa, both indigenes of Kano to help raise funds to help the fire victims, most of whom lost everything they sell to the disaster.
Dangote, after the inauguration of his committee pledged N500m and assured the traders that his committee would work assiduously to garner funds to ameliorate the suffering of the traders.
Presenting the N500m cheque on Monday afternoon in Kano, the CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Mrs. Zouera Youssoufou explained that Africa’s richest man was deeply touched by the plight of the affected traders and that is why he has ensured that the money is available.
Reechoing what Dangote said earlier on his involvement in the provision of succor to the traders, Mrs. Youssoufou stated that the Chairman of Dangote Group would also see other areas he would collaborate with the state to bring relief to the traders as quickly as possible.
She stated that Dangote Foundation has been identifying with various projects in the state and that the donation is just one of the many interventions of the Foundation in Kano state.
In his address of welcome at the ceremony, the State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, Cooperative and Tourism, Hammed Rabiu commended Alhaji Dangote for the good gesture and said the state would be eternally grateful for the many helps he has rendered to the state in times of need.
“As you can see, with this physical donation, Alhaji Dangote did not just talk by promising assistance, he is walking the talk”, he stated.
Speaking on the donation, the state governor, Dr. Abdulahi Umar Ganduje while thanking Dangote for always rising to the occasion anytime the state calls, urged other Kano sons and daughters to emulate him and contribute to the growth of the state.
He said that the state government had also donated N500 million to the victims pointing out that a judicial commission was set up to probe the fire incidents and make recommendation and had since turned in its report which has been guiding the state in taking certain decisions to forestall future occurrence.
As part of the implementation of the recommendation of the Commission, Ganduje stated that the government had commenced structural designs and road projects at Kantin Kwari market.
Also he disclosed that lock-up shops have been built for the traders as opposed to the former wooding stalls which are very combustible in the event of fire outbreak.
The Governor assured that every trader that suffered loss would be compensated as the Commission had already accessed the extent of damages and the actual loss suffered by each trader.
With the new development and strategy being out in place, Governor Ganduje said he hoped that the outbreak of fire in Kano markets will stop.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
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