The Kano State Government has come under fire for awarding a compensation of N1m each to the victims of the fatal accident which took the lives of 22 Kano athletes and officials, who were returning from the 2024 National Sports Festival in Ogun State on Saturday, The PUNCH reports.
Twenty-one members of the contingent were reported dead on Saturday before the figure became 22 on Sunday.
The accident occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Saturday near Gadar Yankifi along the Kaduna-Kano expressway, involving a Kano State Government coaster bus with registration number KN 041 A17.
In response to the incident, the Kano State Government announced N1m support each to the families of 22 athletes and officials, but the decision has attracted more criticism than applause from athletes, coaches and even Nigerians.
“If you are an athlete that has represented this country before or even now, you will know the pain we go through when it comes to travelling for competitions. The N1m can’t do anything, not even in today’s economy. I am sorry but that looks like how much the government thinks their life is worth,” an aggrieved athlete from the just-concluded sports festival said.
“These are people we competed against and made friends with. Look at how they are treated in death. It speaks volume about some of us that still competing. Our governments are just full of discouragement. You try to serve your state and nation but what you get in return is regret,” another athlete said.
A coach at the Ondo State Sports Council also said, “Why didn’t the same Kano government use less than this amount of money to book aeroplanes and fly them? This has to be changed. Distance from Kano to Abeokuta is not a joke. This is sad.”
However, Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, Umar Fagge, has mulled the idea of employing the relatives of the victims.
“These people are the best among the best at the sports commission. We have lost so many staff in this case too and we will urge the government to look into it. If we have a member of their family who can come in and replace them in the service, we will advise the government to do so,
“The government has also paid all the hospital bills and I am sure by the time the Governor returns, he will still compensate the families beyond expectations.”
He also added the state government suggested a mass burial to honour the victims but their relatives agreed to take care of the burial themselves.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Government also sent a delegation, led by Deputy Governor Engineer Naimot Salako-Oyedele, to Kano and also donated the sum of N31m to the victims.
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