Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that his administration will restructure the Aleshinloye Market, Ibadan, to avert a recurrence of the fire incident that destroyed goods worth millions of Naira in March.
The governor also said that the state government has provided some palliatives to serve as an immediate cushion for the victims of the fire incident.
Makinde stated this on Tuesday, when he carried out an on-site inspection of the market. He noted that it was sad that though there was a fire station in the market, it could not stop the fire.
He maintained that the government would work on the market to establish a proper architecture that could avert future fires.
Order on the planned Aleshinloye Market demolition
Governor Makinde equally ordered suspending the planned demolition of a market section until traders have a proper alternative.
He added that the state government, the Ibadan South-West Local Government and the Ibadan South LCDA would work on cushioning the effect of the fire incidents on traders in the next few days.
The governor said: “There are two things out there. One is to organise the market itself, because right there where the fire broke out, there is a fire station, but they could not stop the fire.
“So, we must do whatever is necessary to ensure the fire station is functional.
“Two, there is a place that the local government is going to demolish, and I have told the chairman that the place should not be demolished until an alternative is provided for the people.”
Governor Seyi Makinde Announces Relief Packages For Affected Traders
Governor Makinde further assured the Traders, “We will be working on that together within the next few days so that we can cushion the impact of the fire incident on the people.
“We have provided some palliatives for them, and I told them too that we have to work together to ensure this kind of thing does not happen again.
“We have to enlighten the people. It is better to avoid anything that can lead to a fire incident than to curtail it. So, the advocacy should be that people should store things, especially things that have the potential to get burnt, with utmost caution.”
