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Friday, March 29, 2024

Demolition Exercise in Kano: Matters Arising! – By Kabiru Tsakuwa

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kwankwa
Darmanawa Quarters, Kano
The recent demolition of a structure at Darmanawa quarters in Kano has jolted Abuja-a capital city known for frequent demolition exercises; creating furore in Kano-a city known for justice, fairness and egalitarianism!
Demolition of structures by both state and federal ministries and agencies for physical planning and developments like: FCDA in Abuja, and Kano state Urban Planning and Development Agency (KNUPDA) among others, have always been painful but legitimate exercises.
For instance, Government can embark on demolition of both residential and industrial structures as the case may warrant, purposely to restore master plan of a town or city due to incessant contravention of Land-use (Original Purpose for land allocated), and to stop encroachments of buildings and structures into the ‘right of way’ in order to safeguard future proposed land use, e.g., road expansion, water ways, buffer zones and set-backs. 
The exercise can also be done solely for “overriding public interest” like: hospitals, schools, fire-services, police stations, markets, roads, mosques, and churches among several others. Another lawful reason is to guard against a particular neighborhood becoming urban slump which may necessitate costly Urban renewal programme thus weighing down heavily on the side of government future expenditure plan.
In that regards, recent demolition of structures in Kano, carried out along AKTH and court road; Umarawa and Dan-Gwauro village; to pave way for the constructions and expansion of roads and development of new cities in the metropolis falls directly within that admirable and acceptable bracket. Government deserves total support and cooperation to achieve set target for the overall benefit of the society.
I often find it amusing whenever some misguided people oppose these lawful demolition exercises on the ground that they are primitively so used to a particular place for years and will not for any reason want be relocated to an entirely new area; while forgetting that the amenities that will be provided for the benefits of the entire society are far above narrow and selfish personal gain. They also fail to understand that such exercise has always been collective, rather than selective, except when certain parochial and pecuniary interests are involved.
People should know that the ongoing demolition of structures in Kano and elsewhere, are never meant for witch-hunting or blackmailing of anybody, rather, it was meant to ginger positive development. Land management is designed to bring about rapid advancement and ensure serene, clean and orderly environment.
Trouble starts only when those affected directly by the demolition exercises are not adequately compensated, or payments are unnecessarily delayed and/or beneficiaries are short-changed by the enforcement agency, in which case; victims have genuine reason to seek redress and protest peacefully for justice in truly democratic ambiance.
Another problem has to do with the issue of corruption whereby staff of the physical planning and development agency saddled with the onerous task of restoring master plan like KNUPDA in Kano, may be involved in shoddy deals by way of doing the biddings of some selfish and unscrupulous individuals who are involved in land racketeering, as it happened at Darmanawa Quarters recently; where ONLY a single structure belonging to an individual was demolished for dubious purposes contrary to those enumerated above!
Such biased or selective application and/or unjustified uses of any public policy by an enforcement organ of government like KNUPDA against an individual or group without regard to laid down procedures is an anathema and injustice that ought to be tackled and dealt with decisively by government to forestall unfortunate breech of public peace and breakdown of law and order!
Certainly, this unequal law for equal folks is an aberration of what Kwankwasiyya government stand for. It is against the ideals for which our government is known for i.e.:  justice, fairness and egalitarianism.
So, given the paramount importance of security of life and properties in the socio-economic well-being of the people, no government worth its onion will allow those it entrusted with enforcement of public policy, to expressly rubbish it.
If a public policy is implemented uniformly, nobody in his right frame of mind will raise an eyebrow, because it affect everybody directly and is something that will in the long run benefit all and sundry. But in a situation where some influential persons take advantage of their connections, status, and wealth to cause the implementation of a policy by a government agency (KNUPDA IN THIS CASE) on helpless and hapless person without any justification other than selfish aggrandizement; it clearly raises specters of doubt about government genuine intention and sense of justice and fairness in its dealings with her subjects.  
It is against this backdrop that this article is a wake-up call to the kwankwasiyya government under the leadership of his Excellency the executive governor Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to address this issue head-on; especially now that the MEDIA has STRONG interest in it.
Long live Kano
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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