The gates to the Gamboru International Cattle Market have been reopened after having been securely shut for about seven years because of the 13-year insurgency in Borno State.
Residents, traders and farmers in Gamboru town, the headquarters of the Ngala Local Government Area, were delighted when governor Babagana Umara Zulum officially reopened the market on Saturday, November 12, and are looking forward to getting back to business again.
Apart from reopening the market, the governor distributed relief materials, including clothes for the women in the town.
Abubakar Ngala, a resident, said: “We are very grateful to Almighty Allah and to the Borno State government for reopening the Gamboru International Cattle Market. Traders have already started transporting cattle to Maiduguri and to the neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon, among others.
“The market is regarded as international because it includes traders, farmers, cattle sellers and buyers from the neighbouring countries. So, reopening the market is particularly important not only for the people of Borno, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna and other states in Nigeria but also for those who buy and sell cattle in the neighbouring countries. The reopening will boost the country’s economy.
“The market was closed for many years during the insurgency. But now it’s open and things are beginning to stir again. I even saw four trucks loaded with cattle being transported to Maiduguri.”
He said security had improved and farmers and traders were now able to travel in relative safety on the Gamboru Ngala-Maiduguri highway daily. “But we still urge the government to tighten security on the road which is an important business route. Before it was closed there were numerous attacks on drivers and passengers. People were killed and kidnapped.”
Shettima Bukar Fannami said he, too, was grateful and relieved that the market had been reopened.
“The insurgency put a stop to all kinds of business activities. But now that the Gamboru International Cattle Market has reopened, we can at last conduct business again and Gamboru Ngala will return to the thriving town it used to be before the insurgency.
“It is a particularly pleasing time for the traders in Gamboru and those in Fotokol town in Cameroon. At last international trading can start again. Trading in cattle is big business and brings in a lot of money. Our traders cross the border to buy and sell cattle in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, as well as other places, and their traders come to do business in Maiduguri and other parts of the state and the country.”
Abubakar Sadiq also expressed his happiness about the reopening of the market. “It’s a thing of joy to witness the reopening and we are very grateful. But we are appealing to the Borno State government to tighten security along the Gamboru Ngala-Maiduguri highway because it is a major route used by drivers and their passengers and cargo, farmers and traders. It is much safer than it used to be but you still come across insurgents at times. Before, if you wanted to travel to Gamboru you could spend up to 40 days in Muna waiting for security to accompany you. At least now you can travel to Gamboru in a day.
“But parts of the road from Gamboru to Maiduguri and from Gamboru to neighbouring countries are dilapidated and we urge the government to repair them. The rainy season made the condition of the roads even worse.”
Sadiq said that now that the rainy season was over it was time for the government to repair and reconstruct them where necessary.
He said residents, farmers and traders also wanted the Gamburo fish market to be reopened.
“If the cattle market can be reopened, I do not see why the fish market cannot be reopened too,” he said.
SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO
