From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) has donated the sum of N50 million to the victim’s families of the boat mishap that occurred at Warrah town in Ngaski local government area of Kebbi State.
Chairman of the Forum Dr Kayode Fayemi, who is also Ekiti State Governor, declared the donation on behalf of the NGF during his condolence visit to the Kebbi state Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu at Government House,Birnin Kebbi, and was accompanied by Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal,Plateau state Governor, Barrister Simeon Bako Lalong.
In his remarks, Fayemi described the incidents as the national tragedy and suggested that the emergency responses at the local ,states and Federal governments must be strengthen to avert lost of lives of such magnitude.
According to him, “of course, we are not God and Almighty God known best why thing like this happened. Mere mortal like us we ask ourselves, why do bad things happened to good people? But then,God Almighty has the insight, foresight, the knowledge and He has the wisdom and He knows why certain thing happened which may not be clear to us mere mortal.
“On behalf of all of us,your brother’s Governors from 35 states,we pray that God in His infinite wisdom will grant the departed souls Alijanah Firdausi and give those they left behind the fortitude to bear the lost.
“We know this is not a persona tragedy, it is a statewide tragedy and it is a national tragedy and those that were bereaved will definitely have the fallouts to do with.
“And that is why your brother’s Governors decided that,I must on their behalf,donated N50 million to the families of those that lost their lives in this unfortunately incident.”
He added that: “And we also felt that as Governors, it is a mater that we must draw lesson from. One,that emergency responses must be strengthen not only in the state,but at the national level. Not only that we must draw lesson from the incident, but we must ensure that these boats are not overcrowded when they are travelling across communities they are plying.”
Fayemi prayed to God to grant the deceased Alijanah Firdausi and grant their families the courage to bear the fortitude of their deaths.
In his response, Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu,who appreciated the support of NGF members and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawelle for their donations, disclosed that,81 corpses of the victims have been buried at the town where mishap happened.
He explained that,there was no specific number of the passengers the boat carried because, the operator’s did not used manifest stressed that,majorities of the victims were from Warrah town.