Alhaji Mohammed Nadu Yahaya is Kano State Commissioner of Land and Physical Planning. In this interview with KOLADE ADEYEMI, he listed Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s blue-print on urban planning, just as he decried illegal land allocation made by the immediate past administration in the state. Excerpts:
What have you done to clear the prevailing carved-out houses and make-shift stores illegally built across the Kano metropolis?
We came into government in May 2011. As you said, we saw that most of the planned areas have been invaded by unscrupulous elements who built carved-out houses indiscri-minately on street sides, water-tunnels and open spaces made for gardens and street beautification. We found this situation very worrisome. Road reservations have been taken over by illegal structures. So, the first step we took was to move round. His Excellency, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso set up a special committee to identify these areas and take necessary steps. And I must tell you that we have begun demolition of these illegal structures so as to restore the original masterplan of Kano city.
Let me also sound it clear that in this administration, noone has been allocated any piece of land, no matter how small or big to build make-shift shops or carve-out houses as you term them. It is quite unfortunate to note that our predecessors in government carved out such areas made for schools and gave them out to private individuals. We frowned at such situations and we are doing everything possible to reverse this illegality. This is why we are bent on revoking illegal allocations of land in developed areas that we find out that are detrimental to the public and public use.
Let’s look at the issue of the proliferation of unplanned settlements locally known as Awon Igiya. You are aware of the impending danger of clustered buildings in such areas, what are you doing to control this situation?
What happened about Awon Igiya was that very unscrupulous people including those working in government ministries and parastatal connived with framers to allocate places made for farming to private individuals. The last administration had poor response in the creation of eligible plots for residential areas. We are creating at list 1000 plots that could be serviced and allocated to people where they will build their homes. These Awon Igiya areas have no plans, no facilities, no services, no roads and other needed infrastructures. You see, these are the kind of situations that lead to collapse of buildings, the menace of flood disaster and even spread of air and water borne diseases like measles, meningitis, cholera and even polio in children.
I want to tell you that we are taking this issue seriously and the government of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is ready to arrest and prosecute these saboteurs who engage in illegal land selling and allocations. You see, there are certain things that we overlook but they matter very seriously. You remember the flood incident at Fagge. Think about the human loss and how many millions of naira and property that went with that avoidable disaster. The buildings there were not planned. Some of the buildings were on top of water tunnels; you have the issue of cluster of buildings and all that. This is not fair.
So, we are going to prosecute them. Farm lands are not made to be residential areas. All that they do is to take farm lands and put up buildings indiscriminately without recourse to the texture of the soil and other variables. If you want to build a house, you are suppose to go and take architectural grant at Kano State Urban Planning and Protection Development Agency (KNUPPDA) and make sure you followed all the required laws.
What plans do you have for Kano?
Several things are going to happen. The first thing we are doing is to stop illegal development of houses. The second thing we are doing is to ensure that people clean up their environment. Only last week, His Excellency launched the sanitation exercise. We are also using direct labour in trying to clean up the drainages. We have also started the exercise of dualizing the express ways, streets and walk-ways. We may also consider the construction of pedestrian bridges to ease human traffic on busy round-abouts. In this light, we are requesting that people whose land or houses are by the side of the road should beautify them. They should plant flowers and trees to give the streets a taste of exquisiteness. They should remove all the dirt and when you remove dirt, you remove diseases, scare away mosquitoes, give the environment a scintillating outlook. We want to rebuild Kano city. We want Kano to take its rightful place in the pews of cities that were founded on impeccable planning. People talk about Lagos, and I want to tell you that had we stayed in government beyond 2003, Lagos would have come to learn from Kano in terms of city planning and beautification.
When we took over the government, His Excellency came with so many ideas. Do you know that less than one per cent of properties within Kano metropolis do not have Certificates of Occupancy? One of our major priorities is to ensure that all land owners in Kano get their Certificates of Occupancy. As we give Certificates of Occupancy, people will be empowered. Most people are willing to use their land property as collateral for loans from financial institutions but could not do that because they do not have Certificates of Occupancy to tender.
Is there hope to extend this project of building a new Kano to Sabon Gari, predominantly inhabited by non-natives and one of the major hubs of business activities in the state, but neglected with bad roads and other infrastructural problems?
We are going to improve all the roads within the metropolis. The roads in Sabon Gari are going to be rehabilitated. Sabon Gari is the hub of commerce and it is only when you provide the needed infrastructures that businesses move well. Investors would be encouraged and the state would generate more revenues. We have started discussions with investors, mortgage banks and private investors. The Federal Mortgage Bank is also planning to build about 10,000 houses and lease out to civil servants at subsidized rates. We are providing plots of land to individuals. As I told you, plans are under way to procure about 100,000 plots of land for allocations for residential buildings. Let me inform you that in the entire eight years of the last administration, less than 200 housing units were built. In the next four years, we are planning to build over 30,000 housing units. When this is done, the economy will jump-start.
We will like you to clear the air on the controversy surrounding land allocations made by the immediate past administration?
The past administration did several last-minute land allocations. Some of them were not done in the best interest of Kano State. The first example is the controversial Kofar Na’isa land. It is about 100 hectres. The last administration allocated about 250 plots to few individuals. There is no place that you can get up to five hectres within Kano city that is devoted to recreation and sports. So, from day one, we have designated that area for public use. We want to develop the sporting capacity of young people. I am sure such people who were allocated the 100 hectres would not grudge the idea of using the place for public use, particularly for the interest of young people. We need a healthy and fit society; and I think that is very good for Kano citizens. So the government is considering using the Kofar Na’isa land for the construction of Sports Academy; and I believe the decision is in the best interest of the entire Kano people.
Now, talking about the allocation they made at the Western By-Pass. We observed that before the immediate past administration took over that land, they promised to develop it and allocate 50 per cent of the land to the farmers whose land were taken as part of compensation. What happened was that they failed to develop the area—that is to produced infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity. They failed in their promise to relinquish 50 per cent of the plots to the farmers. But what they did was to allocate the lands to political cronies, friends and well-wishers. This is not fair. So when Kwankwaso’s government came, as someone who believes in natural justice, he decided to revoke the allocation, because the area is going to be developed first, 50 per cent would be given to farmers and government will use the remaining for housing estates. The remaining 50 per cent would be allocated to mortgage banks and Federal Housing Authorities who would build houses and auction it to civil servants. We want to engage in a mass housing scheme.
We hear of this Kano Geographic Information System (KANGIS). What is the idea behind it?
KANGIS is a creation of technology. It is used to enhance land administration. Part of our plan is to give Certificates of Occupancy to as many people as we can within these four years. We are using KANGIS to achieve this goal. We are going to take digital aerial photography of all the lands in the state to facilitate the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy to land owners. And the cost of getting the Certificates of Occupancy would reduce drastically. That is what we are going to use KANGIS to do.