Managing Director of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Alkali
ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
The Managing Director of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Alkali, has said that ongoing construction of a cattle market in Soro Town in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State is meant to stop accidents which has lead to loss of lives and properties.
He stated this when he led members of the NEDC and the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, to inspect the project.
He said the Bauchi State Government has provided the land for the construction of the market.
Alkali said: “When the proposal was brought to the Commission, we thought of having a wider space so as to solve this problem of unnecessary accidents that cause loss of lives along the road every market day.
“We want to integrate it so that it will accommodate the cattle traders and also those that are on the road will use these shops so that the market will be decongested so that people can use the road freely.
“On market days two trucks cannot pass through at the same time and if by any chance, there is any brake failure, there will be loss of lives.
“And that was why when the House brought this particular area to our attention, the Commission decided to construct this cattle market.”
According to him, the market, when completed, would accommodate over 2,500 cattles at a time, adding that there are 48 shops, VIP toilets, restaurant, and many others.
“One of the most fundamental things the District Head of Ganjuwa said is that, we are looking at how we can also integrate the grain market into this market,” he said.
The Member representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency, in the House Representatives, Hon. Manu Soro, while speaking said that in the past, many people has lost their lives from cows that strayed from the market.
Soro, who did not mention what period of time the deaths occured said: “One of the reasons why this new cattle market was conceived was to protect people from being killed because the other market is very close to the road. We want to move the people away from having their business on the road.
“And it is not just about decongesting the road, but innocent passersby within the existing cattle market are usually thumped by the cows whenever the market is holding and the District Head is head and he can bear me witness that so far, we have a statistics which indicated that over 10 people have lost their lives in this kind of processes. Several others have sustained various degrees of injuries due to the overcrowded nature of the market.
“So, we requested the intervention of the Commission to relocate the market by constructing a new and expanded one in that regards which is this location where we are now.”
Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed, said that NEDC’s intervention in building the cattle market described it as a kind gesture geared towards solving one of the major issues disturbing the people of Soro town.
The governor who was represented by his Deputy, Baba Tela said: “If you pass this town every market day, you will see how congested the place has become. People leave the market and come to road to transact their business.
“Sometimes, it takes you 1 hour 30 minutes and sometimes 2 hours just to pass through a distance of about 200 to 300 meters. That’s why the NEDC decided to intervene and build a modern cattle market that will be suitable for transacting business for the people of Soro and for those coming from other places and it will be a model to other towns.”