Southern governors have paid a condolence visit to the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over the death of 35 persons at a funfair for children in Ibadan.
Leading the delegation is the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.
He described the event that led to the deaths of innocent children as a good initiative that turned bad, advising non-governmental organisations that have such initiatives to always work with the government for proper planning when organising such charity programmes.
Abiodun prayed for the repose of the souls of the children, who lost their lives, their bereaved parents and the people of Oyo State.
In the spirit of brotherhood and shared humanity, we paid a condolence visit to our dear brother and colleague, His Excellency, Governor @seyiamakinde of Oyo State, over the unfortunate stampede that claimed precious lives in Ibadan.
“I am here on behalf of myself, family, the entire people of Ogun State and the entire Southern Governors’ Forum of Nigeria,” he said.
“We have come to commiserate with the governor and the entire people of Oyo State on the very unfortunate incident that happened on Wednesday 18th of December, 2024, where a good initiative turned sour.
“We all woke up to the news the following day and I decided to come on behalf of all of us and condole with the governor and the people as well as the government of Oyo State.
“The entire Southern governors are pained by this occurrence. In Ogun State, we believe anything that affects Oyo State affects us as well. Our prayer is that we won’t witness such an occurrence again. We will continue to remember all those affected in our prayers.”
Responding, Makinde appreciated Governor Abiodun for visiting him.
He said: “Your Excellency, thank you so much for the visit. We appreciate you being with us at this difficult period.
“My brother’s visit presented an opportunity to also rub minds. We were talking about tractorisation and the strategy they have adopted in Ogun State as well as what we are doing here.
“We agreed that we will have a peer-review visit in the New Year so that we can leverage the good things happening there and they can also leverage the good things happening here.”