President Bola Tinubu’s son, Mr. Seyi Tinubu, has promised to help survivors of the Saint Academy Jos school building collapse recover from the tragedy.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that 22 people died in the July 12 tragedy, while 154 others were injured.
Tinubu visited the site of the building collapse and the hospitals where the injured victims are recovering. He was represented by the National Chairman, Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Mr. Belusochukwu Enwere.
“I am here to convey a message of hope to all those injured, wishing them a quick recovery so they can return to classes and pursue their dreams. We pray for the souls of those who died to rest in peace,” Enwere said on behalf of Seyi Tinubu. “I am here to see what is happening first-hand and to report back to him. We aim to render assistance to the students.”
“We will do everything possible to ensure that the injured receive proper care and return to school. This is sacrosanct because the situation involves the lives of students, youths, and our future, the future of our children, and our country,” he added.
Tinubu also assured that the unpaid medical bills would be taken care of so that the students can be discharged without any issues. He advised builders to follow due process and adhere to specified building standards to avoid such mishaps in the future. He called on the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and the Institute of Building to enforce strict measures and sanctions on those constructing schools, hospitals, or residential buildings without adherence to standards.
The Chairman of YOWICAN in Plateau, Mr. Panmak Lere, expressed excitement that help was coming for the victims. “We have also listened to the hospital management. Some bills from the Yelwa Zangam attacks during the last administration are still unpaid. We made commitments to the management to follow up on these issues. I am confident that the current administration will ensure the debts from the previous administration are settled,” he said.
Rev. Sister Jovita Egwu, Administrator of Our Lady of Apostles Hospital, Jos, said that when the incident occurred, five were brought in dead, six were treated at the outpatient department and discharged the same day. A total of 22 victims were hospitalized, and all those who were brought in alive are still recuperating.
“The state government has announced that they will take care of the treatment costs. We hope they will follow through on this because, during the Yelwa Zangam attack, up to today, about N2 million remains unpaid,” Egwu said. “When incidents like this happen, we still have the resources to manage, but we expect the promised payments to be made.”
“As we speak, we have not received support from the government. We hope they will act on their promise, as this is an emergency. Supplies should be sent immediately so we can use them right away. If we have to wait for another month before receiving payments, it becomes very difficult, especially if we don’t have the necessary resources at hand,” Egwu added.
