The Bauchi state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Honourable Ahmed Modibbo has disclosed that the decision taken by the state government to sell some of the animals at the Sumu Wildlife park was not because the state is broke.
The commissioner who was reacting to insinuations from some people that the decision may not be unconnected with the current Coronavirus crisis that has caused a serious threat on the global economy revealed that the plan was taken even before the outbreak of the virus.
Modibbo who described the insinuations as laughable, maintained that “government is not a joke, this is state government and not local government, therefore anybody saying this, is ignorant of the workings of the government”.
He said that the idea came after serious consideration of the space in which the animals are housed, adding that the animals have over the years been multiplying and have overstretched the park and that informs government’s decision to sell some of them.
“Some of these animals are old and some have multiplied in numbers, in such a way that we have to reduce them by selling them out and using the proceed to add to the IGR of the state, because it is not proper to continue to keep those that are too old in the park”, Modibbo explained.
The commissioner, who said that selling some of the animals have been a normal practice, wondered why people are making an issue out of the decision.
“I think the reason why some people are complaining is because we made our own decision public unlike what was obtainable in the previous government that does it silently. We are doing our things openly because we are determined to run a transparent government”, he said.
The commissioner who informed that government is spending a lot of money in taking care of the animals, wondered how people think government would realise from the sales of the animals that prompted them to assumed government is broke.
“Can the money sustain even a local government? People should understand that we are not selling them because the state is going broke due to Coronavirus crisis. The arrangement has been there even before we came in and I am just implementing a policy that had been on ground since”, he clarified.
The commissioner while hoping that by the time the sale of the animals is flagged off, people will patronize the market so that the state will generate some income out of it, urged the people of the state to continue to be loyal and submissive to the present government which is poised to deliver dividends of democracy to all segments of the state.
On the fumigation exercise that took place in Yankari Game Reserve, the commissioner said it was meant to make the place safe for the tourists and to curb the spread of COVID-19.
According to him, “although there was no suspected case there but the fumigation was done as part of measures to de-escalate the spread of the virus into the Reserve.
The commissioner who prayed for God’s intervention in ending the Coronavirus pandemic, said that the disease is real and that anybody disputing that is not being fair to himself.
