The Acting Chairman of Wudil Cattle Market Union, Ahmad Dauda, says N50 billion in transactions are made at every week.
Dauda told newsmen in Kano on Tuesday that the amount was generated from the sales of no fewer than three million cows at the market which transacts business every Friday and Saturday.
Dauda said cattle from Kano and several other states including Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau, Taraba, Sokoto, Borno and Yobe were brought to the market every week.
He said the animals were largely transported to the South-South, South-East and South-West by dealers.
“Wudil is the biggest cattle market in Kano State and one of the biggest in northern Nigeria where transactions worth about N50 billion take place every Friday.
“The cattle start arriving the market from Wednesday in trailers, trucks while the sales begin on Friday and last till Saturday,” he said.
The acting chairman commended the State Government for providing facilities for the smooth operation of the market, including drains, solar lighting and toilets.
He, however, said it was unfortunate that the drains provided were inadequate as the market becomes waterlogged during the rainy season, thus discouraging many customers from patronising it.
He, therefore, asked the government to improve on the drains to allow easy outflow of water from the market.
Dauda also appealed to the government to provide effective security at the market to protect it from thieves, who he said had stolen huge sums of money from traders in the past.
Also Speaking, the Infrastructure Engineer, Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project(KSADP), Zahraddeen Zarewa, said the state government through the project, had provided infrastructure in five major cattle markets in the state.
Zarewa listed the markets as those in Wudil, Dambatta, Getso, Dunbulum and Falgore, adding that the infrastructure included toilet facilities, solar lighting, boreholes, offices, and drains.
He said N350 million was spent on the provision of the infrastructure aimed at upgrading the markets.
He said the projects were financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Lives and Livelihood Funds(LLF) with support from the Kano State Government.
Zarewa assured that the KSADP would carry out more drainage works, especially at the Wudil cattle market and the other cattle markets before the project winds up in June 2025.
NAN
