Makinde To Remodel Alesinloye Market Over Fire Outbreak

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said his administration will remodel the Alesinloye Market in Ibadan to avert a recurrence of the fire incident that destroyed goods worth millions of Naira in March.

The governor also said the state government had provided some sort of palliatives to serve as an immediate cushion for the victims of the fire incident.

The governor stated this on Tuesday during an on-site inspection of the market, noting that it was unfortunate that despite having a fire station, the fire could not be contained.

He maintained that the government would work on the market to put in place a proper architecture that could avert future fire incidents.

The governor’s statements were contained in a release issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser (Media), Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, and made available to newsmen.

Makinde equally ordered the suspension of the planned demolition of a section of the market until a proper alternative had been provided for traders.

He added that the government, the Ibadan South-West Local Government and the Ibadan South Local Council Development Area would work on cushioning the effect of the fire incidents on traders in the next few days.

“There are two things out there. One is to organise the market itself because right where the fire broke out, there is a fire station, but they could not stop the fire.

“So, we have to ensure that we do whatever is necessary to make sure 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 it should not be demolished until an alternative is provided for the people.

“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,” he said.

He called on the people to exercise caution and work towards preventing fire incidents in the state.

“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,” he added.