How Firm Partners Kano Govt to Fight Drug Dealers as Ganduje Threatens to Deal With Violators
- The Kano State government has vowed to deal with drug peddlers parading as medicine sellers
- The State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, said this at the commissioning of a centre for medical products
- The centre, built in collaboration with Brains and Hammers, a real estate firm boasts of the best facilities in Nigeria
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has issued a solid warning for stakeholders in the medicine business wo engage in the sale of wholesale medicine in the open market in the Sabon Gari area of the state. He asked them to relocate to the newly commissioned Coordinated Warehouse Centre (CWC), the Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Centre.
At the recent formal opening of the CWC, which is part of the larger 117-acre Kano Economic City (KEC), developed under a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement between Brains and Hammers and the Kano State Government, the Ganduje Said that areas for wholesale medicines in the state would be shut down immediately. The state would prosecute those found wanting.
Source: Facebook
Ganduje vows action against peddlers
According to Leadership, the Chairman of the KEC, Mohammed Aliyu Chiroma, described the Coordinated Wholesale Centre as a complex of 2100 shops with warehouses that will accommodate businesses of all medical products in Kano under regulatory bodies' control as the PCN, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), and NAFDAC.
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
At the recent commissioning of Phase One of the KEC, Ciroma spoke of the efforts put in by the tripartite pact executed by Brains and Hammers, developer of the trade hub in West Africa, Kano State Government, and Jaiz Bank Plc.
He discussed some features inside the sprawling 117 hectares as an architectural masterpiece.
Economic City first in Africa
The Kano Economic City is unlike anything that Brains and Hammers had done in the past. It required meticulous handling. It is first-of-its-kind in the West Africa sub-region. He said it was initially projected to cost N78 Billion, but it was reviewed upwards to N150 Billion.
Ciroma further stated that with this formal opening, Kano had set the pace for other markets in the country where medical products are sold in an unregulated environment.
For years, federal regulatory agencies, particularly the National Agency for Food and medicines Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National medicine Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) engaged perpetrators of this unwholesome trade in a battle of wits.
The Federal Government in 2003 floated the idea of a Coordinated Warehouse Centre (CWC) for pharmaceuticals to stop the chaotic and dangerous trade of medicine in the open markets.
At the recent commissioning of the Kanawa Coordinated Warehouse Centre (CWC), or the Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Centre, the Kano Governor gave marching orders to enforcement and regulatory agencies to shut down the stores of traders selling wholesale medicine in the open market at Sabon Gari.
Ganduje pledges support for the centre
The terms of the agreement state that the Kano state Government provides 117 hectares of land while Brains and Hammers develops the project and sells to the general investing public.
It is designed to be a one-stop international standard market providing 35,000 shops, 250 capacity trailer park, 200 Warehouses, Bus Terminal, Conference Centre, Petrol Stations, Hotels and a Motel.
A total of 3234 shops have been constructed and have mostly been sold.
Kano Economic City is well served with dual carriageway internal roads of 100m width and generous parking spaces for visitors and owners. External road networks are Zaria road, Kano Western Bypass and Eastern Bypass.
Water supply to the market is from the most effective water treatment and supply plant in Kano, the Tamburawa Water Plant. Jamilu Gwammna 33KVA line provides electricity, which supplies the market with 24-hour uninterrupted power. Alternative energy will be incorporated, generating plants, solar e.t.c
It will also house a World Trade Centre, and recreational facilities for visitors and residents. A section of the Market is also designed to serve as a light industrial zone, fitted with a police and security network.
NAFDAC lauds project
In their goodwill messages, Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire and Prof. Mojisola Adeleye, Director General, NAFDAC praised Governor Ganduje for becoming a model for other states.
Ehanire said:
"History will be kind to your administration for relocating all the stakeholders to a regulated medicine facility.”
“The plan was only to close down the open market shops if we provided an alternative. That is how we came about the CWC.”
Adeyeye said the Kano CWC would make the NAFDAC job easier. This is going to be a one-stop spot for us. Because of this tower, we will have more confidence that our medcine are good quality."
The Secretary of the NDLEA representing the agency's Director General, Mohammed Buba Marwa, commended the Kano State Government for being the first state to carry out medicine Integrity Test for political office holders and supporting the agency's War Against Abuse (WADA).
Brains and Hammer's reputation is built on over 15 years of insight and expertise. The company has become a partner of choice for affordable, premium, luxury houses for the public and private sectors and Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.
Firm commits to build largest economic hub in West Africa in Kano
Legit.ng earlier reported that famous for its various historic trade and cultural legacies, Nigeria's ancient city of Kano has sustained a reputation for a business that extends to North Africa and pre-dates the colonial administration.
Therefore, the emerging Kano Economic City (KEC) has been conceptualized to return Kano to its prime as a significant economic hub in the West Africa sub-region.
Built as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Kano State Government and Brains and Hammers Limited, the project is designed as an architectural masterpiece and a model for the future development of markets in West Africa. So far, over 3234 shops have been constructed and have mostly been sold.
Source: Legit.ng
