The Kano State Government has explained why it demolished the Government House Roundabout which was done by the previous administration of Abdullahi Ganduje.
Dr. Baffa Bichi, Secretary to the State Government, noted that the monument put in place to commemorate Kano’s Golden Jubilee was pulled down over a visible Christian symbol on it.
Baffa, a former Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Chairman at Bayero University, Kano, and former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, said it was totally wrong for such a Christian symbol to appear in a public structure in Kano whose indigenes are almost 100 per cent Muslims.
He added that there are other plans to remove the Christian symbol on the Muhammadu Buhari interchange at Hotoro, adding that the demolished roundabout was also obstructing the free flow of traffic.
“And over 99.9 or 100 percent of Kano indigenes are Muslims. So you can’t have a structure with a large inscription of the cross on it. It’s against Islamic values.
“Our clerics told us that whenever our beloved Prophet Muhammad saw anything, no matter how little, with a sign of the cross on it, he would ensure that such a thing is destroyed.
“Even the Muhammadu Buhari underpass in Hotoro has a similar design, and I can assure you that plans are underway to make sure those symbols are removed from the bridge.”
Speaking further on the ongoing demolitions across different parts of the state, Dr Bichi said officials of the previous administration illegally acquired the structures.
He maintained that the government would only compensate people with genuine proof of ownership documents.
“Anyone who is defending the encroachment of public institutions like hospitals, schools and Eid grounds is sick and needs medical attention.
“If you encroached on government land and the government collected it back, there is no way you could claim any compensation.
“All these structures we are demolishing were illegally acquired and shared among officials of the outgone administration.
“So, anyone demanding compensation should go and meet the person that sold the properties to them, because the monies were never remitted into the government account.
“If government collects your property to build infrastructure for the masses, it is obligatory that such individuals would be compensated but that’s not the case here,” Baffa stressed.
He further added that the present government is working to recover stolen government assets and properties sold outside the state.