By Mike Adeyemi
The Kwara Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (KWACCIMA) has adjudged the 7th trade fair held in Ilorin as poor outing, saying it recorded a loss of N15m.
This was disclosed by the Vice President of KWACCIMA, Olalekan Fatai during a chat with Pilot Business, shortly after the quarterly meeting of the chamber held last Thursday, in Ilorin.
According to him, the 7th trade fair was marred with many challenges among which was the havoc caused by rainstorm.
“There was a severe rain storm that destroyed many stands. Goods and property worth N15 million in asset value were damaged.
“The main cause of the poor outing of 7th Kwara trade fair was the long hiatus between the previous and the current one. There was about six year gap and this contributed to the poor outing.
“So also, in our local environment here, people are ignorant of the economic value of participating or showcasing their products through trade fair,’ he added.
Olalekan further said that the support from the state government to the programme was inadequate.
“The Kwara State Government supported us to the extent of renovating the Base Ball Complex, venue of the trade fair. But, sincerely, we expected more participation from government.
In the same vein, the President of KWACCIMA, Dr. Ahmed Raji said the trade fair was marred by challenges.
“We had the hurdles of financial resources and low patronage. Perhaps that was due largely to the long break and few other factors. We must brace up for the challenges and roll it on annually; it is for our greater benefit,” he said.
