The Kano State Government has revealed the main reason for demolishing the Government House Roundabout, which was constructed by the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
The Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Baffa Bichi, said the monument put in place to commemorate Kano’s Golden Jubilee was pulled down on Wednesday as it carried the Christian symbol, a cross.
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.
Speaking in Kano, Baffa said plans are also underway 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.
“The roundabout was obstructing the view of motorists, and secondly, if you use a drone camera, you will see that the roundabout has a large design of a cross on top of it.
“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.
The SSG also disclosed that the administration would equally recover government assets and property sold outside of the state.
