Nigeria Loses Over N5.3trillion to Market Fire Incidents in 17 Years

 The National Association Nigerian Traders, NANTs, has revealed that the nation has lost over N5.3trillion to fire incidents in the last seventeen years .

The association’s National President,  Ken Ukaoha, who disclosed the figures during a media interaction on the incessant fire outbreaks in Abuja on Thursday, March 31 , said it was worrisome that the nation had also recorded over 10 major market fires in the last three months.

Ukaoha pointed out that in all the instances, all state authorities could do was to offer sympathy visits and pronouncement of support, which never saw the light of the day.

He noted that it was ironical that government could be wooing foreign investors into the country all in a bid to improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, without sparing a thought about thousands of small businesses in the country that are being ruined by incessant fires.

The NANTs boss said:”It is rather sad and unfortunate that while successive Nigerian governments have continued to chase Foreign Direct Investments even with tax incentives and other attractions, the local traders who constitute the largest domestic investors in the country are neglected while their investments are left to wither away through fire.

“The consequence of this neglect is that Nigerian traders, and by extension the Nigerian economy has lost over N5.3trn to market fires between May 1999 and March 2016.”

“Yet, more annoying is that no government in power has either deemed it necessary to investigate or take actions to forestall further losses occasioned by market fires. Worst still is that the government that enjoys collection of taxes from the traders would never have ‘compensation’ in her dictionary for the affected traders when such market fires occur.”, Ukaoha added.