A businessman in Sokoto State, Mas’ud Musa Bashar, has requested for fiat from the state government to enable him construct waterways in Mabera area of Sokoto North Local Government Area which has been experiencing flooding for years.
Speaking to Caliphate Trust on phone, Bashar said he was moved by the age-long suffering of residents of the area.
he said, “I have been having sleepless nights because of their predicament.”
When asked whether his decision was politically motivated, he said, “Political or not political, these people need urgent attention. It does not matter who offers to assist; whether he belongs to party A or party B, what matters is what can be done to alleviate their suffering.
“Mabera is one area with the highest population in the state and any right thinking politician will not turn his back against them.”
Bashar, who once aspired for a House of Representatives ticket under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the work would commence as soon as the state government granted him approval.
It would be recalled that in an interview with Caliphate Trust, the District Head of Maberan Magaji, Umar Bello Magaji, described their situation as pathetic and horrible.
He said many people abandoned their houses because they were submerged by water.
“We are bedevilled by a myriad of problems, but what bothers us more is recurring flooding, but we were told that the government is doing something about it,” he said
The Commissioner for Environment, Sagir Bafarawa, said the ministry had been working to reduce the suffering of the inhabitants by pumping out stagnant water and evacuating blocked drains.
He said a World Bank supported programme, NEWMAP, would soon take care of infrastructural deficit in the area.
Featuring on a BBC Hausa programme tagged: “A Fada, A Cika”, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal explained that the state had already deposited N1.5bn being its counterpart fund for the World Bank project in Mabera.
