By Tijjani IsaÂ
There is this mad rush to justify what the newly inaugurated governor of Kano State has done by way of demolitions of buildings within the Kano metropolis.
 Buildings and structures he says were “illegally” given out by the last administration and development carried out by the owners on prohibited lands and plots.
The interpretation of “illegal” is subject of another discourse at another time because in my view there is no way a governor oo like Dr Abdullahi Ganduje would, by verbal expression, tell anyone to just “go and do whatever you want to do” on a land anywhere in Kano without accompanying certification.
Of course I do not expect anything less from his supporters, only to blame anyone who subscribes to their analysis and conclusions that what transpired in the last few days can be legally and morally justified.
Some of them tend to draw comparisons by giving us examples that previous governors did same in their various states.
What they however failed to do was to tell us at what degree are the demolitions comparable. Let us take Nasiru Ahmed El Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State for example, whom they said also demolished “houses of the poor” and therefore acted in the same way as Governor Abba Kabir. This is escapism.
I live in Kaduna and know for a fact that El Rufai didn’t begin his demolitions five days after inauguration. Being a certified quantity surveyor El Rufai knew exactly what to do when such a need arises. And what parameters to apply. That is exactly what he did.
He, in fact marked out houses that were on the right of way for development purposes only. To cap it, his last demolition was a month ago after prior notices to the owners, especially former governor Mohammed Makarfi, that took over three years in the making. He did all his demolitions in the afternoon in full glare of the public.
He also allowed owners of marked buildings enough time to evacuate their goods and property. Majority were even compensated in cash and kind.
On the other hand Abba Kabir took bulldozers in the dead of the night which resulted in mass looting.
In effect El Rufai was driven by professionalism, comm onsense and compassion while Abba stands accused of being consumed by revenge and vendetta; and that’s not a good quality of leadership.
By the way, I am glad some, like the developer of Daula Hotel who has taken the governor to court demanding 10 billion restitution, are seeking justice.
If common sense will not stop this hateful fellow before he destroys Kano’s fame for commercial activity, I hope the courts will in a series of court judgements that are soon to come. I also hope the public, as they have already began to show on such medium as the Trust Television newshour, would rise to demand a stop to his madness.
A madness that has potential to create dangerous pockets of insurgents within the crop of youths who have been deprived of their livelihoods within the shortest possible time ever imagined.
 A timely warning would suffice here that an unstable Kano will not augur well for particularly the North, and the whole of Nigeria.
