At a ceremony in the State House Abuja, he handed out letters of employment to 35 beneficiaries and the sum of N5million to each of the 15 families that lost loved ones there in the stampede.
Jonathan had promised after the incident last year that the federal government would give employment to three persons from each of the families that lost loved ones, one of who must be a female.
Speaking at the event, he noted that the death of the job seekers ought not to have happened.
Jonathan explained that “the little cash we are providing is not a compensation because we cannot compensate for the lives lost because nobody knows what they could have become in life.”
The idea is first and foremost to identify with the families and help to cushion their pain,“it is to show our commitment and concern,” he added.
The President apologised that the process of fulfilling the promise took longer than necessary because of government bureaucracy, saying that steps to avoid such unnecessary deaths in future will be taken.
Introducing the beneficiaries, the Comptroller General of Immigration, David Paradang, said 10 persons were disqualified on account of obesity, ill health and other factors, saying that their families had been advised to present replacements who would be presented with their employment letters at a later date.
Speaking on behalf of the families, Barrister Yunusa Imam, recalled that it was 363 days since the incident happened and the families had patiently waited for the fulfillment of the promise adding that they were grateful for the president’s gesture and prayed that such an incident would never recur in the country.
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