From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Worshippers attending Friday prayers at Jumaat Mosque located at the palace of Emir of Gwandu in Birnin Kebbi, have appealed to Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, to intervene over the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation of the mosque.
A cross section of the worshippers who spoke to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi lamented over the long delay in the completion of the project by the contractor.
Mallam Dauda Nasarawa lamented that worshippers had been using temporary mosque for Friday prayers for almost two years under inconvenience of harsh weather.
According to him,” We are therefore appealing to Gov. Nasir Idris, who is a traditional title holder of the emirate to urgently look into the matter by authorising the immediate completion of the rehabilitation exercise of the mosque.
“We are aware that the contractor has been given 12 months to complete the work but it has now reached 18 months without completion,” he said.
Another Muslim faithful, Mallam Shekare Maigona, who has been praying at the mosque for more than 30 years ,described the situation as lowering the esteem of the palace in view of the position of the Gwandu Emirate as the third most powerful traditional institution in Northern Nigeria.
“The famous Islamic Scholar and Poet, Sheikh Abdullahi Bin-Fodio established the highly prestige Gwandu Emirate and it will be unfair to him to disparage his legacy by successive generation,” he said.
When contacted, the Secretary of the contracting firm, M-Tech Universal Concept Limited, Alhaji Umar Babangida-Aliero, said the original contract sum amounted to N270 million of which the company received N70 million mobilisation fee.
“Since then, no kobo has been paid to the company since it started the work.
“We started the work in earnest the cost of building materials skyrocketed; for example, the cost of a bag of cement was N3,000 but now it is N8,000.
“The paucity of funds not only delay the execution of the project but also put heavy burden on us because we have to get money from other sources to enable us reached where we are now.
“We have made overtures to the state Ministry of Finance to give us more money but we are still waiting for response from the office of the Accountant General of the state,” he said.
Babangida-Aliero, therefore, appealed for understanding from worshippers at the Mosque and continue to offer prayers for the quick completion of the rehabilitation work.
” We are assuming the people of the state and Gov. Nasir Idris that M-Tech remains reputable company with commitment to serve the state better in build construction and other project,” the secretary said.