First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has donated ₦110 million to the families of the 22 Kano athletes who lost their lives in a tragic accident earlier this year.
The governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Dawakin Tofa, announced on Thursday that each family received ₦5 million from the First Lady’s Victim Support Fund to help them recover from their loss.
“In a matching gesture of empathy and leadership, Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, also provided an additional ₦130 million, with each of the 10 injured athletes receiving ₦2 million and a plot of land, while the families of the deceased get an additional ₦5 million each,” Tofa said.
The state initially promised ₦22 million, with ₦1 million handed to each deceased family promptly after the disaster and ₦500,000 to those injured.
Yusuf praised the Tinubu’s intervention as an example of compassion, leadership, and common humanity.
He remarked that her support has considerably complemented the state’s efforts to stand with the victims’ families in their time of loss.
Other significant contributions include ₦32 million from the Ogun State Government, ₦20 million from the Jigawa State Government, and ₦2.2 million from Engr. Sagir Koki.
The victims and their families received ₦321.2 million in financial help, including 30 sacks of food and housing plots.
The Kano State Accountant General disbursed the gifts immediately during a special distribution ceremony.
Yusuf renamed the Kano Sports Institute in Karfi as “Kano 22 Athletes Institute” to honour the deceased athletes.
Sharia courts will oversee the allocation of ₦6,709,375 to 22 households for the first tranche, ensuring fair Islamic inheritance distribution.
Speaking on behalf of the grieving families, Alhaji Baffa Indabawa, chairman of the victims’ relatives, thanked both the First Lady and the Kano State Government for what he described as “a deeply consoling and dignified response” to their loss.
The sportsmen died in a fatal car accident on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Gadar Yankifi on the Kaduna-Kano motorway while returning from the 2024 National Sports Festival in Ogun State.
