APC group accuses Kano govt of selling GGSS Maikwatashi land after relocation of school

From Mustapha Adamu Kano

Volunteers for Democracy, a civil society group within the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kano state has alleged sale of land of Government Girls’ Secondary School, GGSS, Maikwatashi by the state government.
The state Ministry of Education had recently announced the relocation of the school to Kaura Goje in Nassarawa Local Government area of the state, citing security concerns.
Also, this newspaper reports that the former Commissioner of Education in the state Muhammad Sanusi S. Kiru had faulted the decision, describing the decision as ill-conceived and poorly executed in an open letter sent to the governor Abba Yusuf.
Equally troubling, Kiru said, was the alleged sale of the old school land for N100 million per plot, a move he described as short-sighted and detrimental to public interest.
Speaking at a press conference after the executive meeting of the group, Alhaji Usman, national president of the association, also alleged that information at their disposal indicated that the state government had sold out the lands at N100 million each.
He therefore call on the state government to come out to explain what he described as the dubious deal.
The former Secretary to the State Government, SSG, described the relocation of the school from Sabongari area as “unfortunate and ill-advised”, noting that it would aggravate Kano’s out-of-school children in the state.
“ The demolition of Government Secondary School Maikwatashi in Sabon Gari of Fagge Local Government to be relocated to Kaura-goje in Nassarawa Local Government Area is unfortunate and ill-advised. The affected students will thus roam the streets and their persuit of education will be disrupted unfortunately.
“ Expert report indicates that Kano State has the highest number of out school children in Nigeria, yet the Kano State Government doesn’t seem to be mindful of this situation.
“We also gathered that the lands were allocated at N100 million. This is uncalled for. We therefore called on the government to explain to the public the trek state of the matter, if the government is truly clean on this” he said.
When contacted for comment, the state’s Commissioner of Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya denied selling the lands in question, describing the allegation as baseless and mere rumour.
According to Mr Waiya, the lands, after relocation of GGSS Maikwatashi, remains public property pending the government’s action on it.
He disclosed that even during the last week’s executive council meeting, Mr Yusuf approved for the revocation of land.
He accused the APC group of blackmail and mischief to tarnish the image of the government.
He said the APC group should have blamed Abdullahi Ganduje’s government of allocating and selling lands to cronies.
“ It is not in this government’s character to allocate public properties to cronies like their government. Our government is transparent.
“ This allegation is baseless and unfounded. There is nothing like selling the soda lands, especially in view of the fact that governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has attached much importance to education.
“Even during last week’s executive council, the government had approved revocation of the lands. The lands are now revoked as directed by the governor,” he said.