Counting the cost of Kano demolitions

 

Notwithstanding the appropriateness or otherwise of the recent and unprecedented wave of demolitions in Kano by the newly inaugurated governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, it may have triggered a vicious circle of the incumbent governors and their predecessors taking turns revoking, converting and reallocating public land and facilities in the state. 

Though purportedly guided by relevant legislation and overriding public interest, successive Kano state governors have been involved, to various extents, in controversial public land and facility-related scandals. However, the immediate past governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, having literally overdone it, has been particularly notorious in this regard. 

Now with the recent demolitions, Governor Abba has proven that it’s indeed his turn. The way they were conducted, which made the operation look more like mob action, has been effectively set as a precedent for future similar operations in the state. 

So, unless this looming vicious circle is averted, Kano may, after every four or eight-year tenure, witness similar operations with persistently worsening intensity and impacts.   

Having monitored the situation from afar, thanks to the viral video clips on social media, I felt not only sad but extremely embarrassed watching helplessly how my city, a supposedly aspiring mega city, was being systematically bastardized.

I watched in shocked dismay how the lives of innocent traders, who simply happened to be tenets in the targeted buildings, were being turned to, perhaps, perpetual misery overnight by crowds of sadist creatures feigning being human looting their (traders) merchandise. Some buildings had already been looted even before the demolition team got there. There are verified heartbreaking stories about the plights of many victims. In a particular instance, one was reliably reported to have gone mad out of frustration. 

The sheer ferocity with which the mob plundered traders’ goods suggests deep-seated populist sadism and sheer envy in a society where tacit gloating over the misfortune of any real or perceived wealthy person has become normal. I have also observed tacit attempts on social media by many otherwise reasonable people to underestimate the plights of the victims and even put the blame on them for their ‘failure’ to evacuate their goods in time. 

Meanwhile, the cumulative impacts of this vicious circle on the state’s economy and other strategic interests cannot be overestimated. It’s already seriously affecting local investor confidence, for no one will consider the viability of any significant investment, especially in, say, real estate development and other related sectors, knowing that the land allocation is prone to arbitrary revocation and the structures are subject to impulsive demolition at any time. 

Equally, banks and other financial institutions will have to discontinue recognizing Kano government-issued certificates of property ownership as collateral, knowing that they may at any time be rendered as worthless as takardar tsire. 

Likewise, the state’s attractiveness to direct foreign investment (if there is currently any) will be hit even harder, for no prospective foreign investor, being typically particularly sensitive to any red flag suggesting policy inconsistency, will consider investing in Kano knowing that whatever policy or incentive attracted him can be impulsively terminated at any time. 

Now, obviously, Governor Abba is aware deep down that that wasn’t how he was supposed to handle the situation in the first place. His approach is enough to vindicate those who insist that he is simply on a vengeance mission with a premeditated resolve to settle scores with political opponents and their associates on behalf of his political godfather, Rabi’u Kwankwaso. 

He can address whatever land use abuses his predecessor committed, which are so many, by the way, but he should do it in a civilized way through due process leading to the demolishing of what indeed deserves to be demolished and sparing what deserves to be spared for the purpose of reclaiming and converting it into a public facility. 

At the mercy of delegates: The imperative of breaking free

Regardless of the expectation and anticipation with which the new administration in Nigeria is being greeted, there is no better time than now to embark on efforts to address the underlying challenges that have always undermined the credibility of primaries, hopefully by the 2027 election season, relevant legislation and methods will have been duly reformed.

Towards every election season, people lament the scarcity of suitable candidates for elective positions, which they also rightly attribute to the systematic manipulation of the party nomination process by powerful vested interests within the parties, who impose candidates on the electorate via charades in the name of party consensus or primaries by some hand-picked party delegates.

Public officeholders and other party elites use the instruments of power and public resources at their disposal to ensure the emergence of their political associates, in addition to themselves, of course, as party delegates with a mandate to elect party candidates, on occasion typically characterised by systematic vote buying deals between delegates offering their consciences (if any) for sale. Deep-pocketed politicians jostle to outbid one another.

That has discouraged many conscientious individuals with the potential to turn things around in their respective jurisdictions given the mandate from getting into politics, for they rightly wouldn’t bootlick any so-called political godfather or bribe any greed-motivated delegate. After all, many like-minded individuals have ventured into politics but ended up frustrated at the hands of party manipulators. In contrast, many others of similar calibre have compromised their moral principles to join the corrupt elite they have previously often castigated.

Consequently, the electorate is left with the dilemma of choosing amongst candidates with notorious pasts for gross incompetence, massive corruption cases, and even court convictions against many of them. The average voter, therefore, betrays his underlying frustration by voting for the highest bidder amongst the candidates or voting for whoever his immediate political master endorses, with some hope that the candidate will win. His master will be rewarded with some political appointment or other privileges, for him (voter) to be occasionally rewarded with peanuts by the master throughout his stay in office or continuation of his privileges.

Only a few votes with a conviction may still not be in order anyway, for it might be influenced by one manipulative tactic or another.

Ironically also, there is general indifference in all segments of society. Even democratic activists and advocates for good governance, who are supposed to be particularly committed to demanding, among other things, the reform of the party nomination process, have been largely and inexcusably indifferent. They only rant in futility when it’s too late, i.e. when birds of a feather flock together have emerged as their respective parties’ candidates. Many have become mere attention-seeking opportunists hiding behind activism to extort political appointments and other privileges from the politicians they have criticised in return for their loyalty.

Even the few voices of reason in society only urge the electorate to vote for the so-called best of a bad bunch among the candidates, if any.

Now, until relevant legislation governing the party nomination process and the methods of conducting it are reformed in such a way that it guarantees maximum transparency in the process, the kind of change Nigerians wish for under democracy will never be achieved.

Instead of chasing shadows, therefore, it’s high time that genuine advocates for good governance and other concerned groups and associations embarked on a concerted campaign to demand the reform of relevant legislation to abolish the current corruption-laden delegate primaries and consensus and adopt a direct and transparent primary where all party members are eligible to vote, as the only legal method of nominating party candidates at all levels.

The imperative of demanding such reform represents a challenge that puts Nigerians’ yearning for good governance to the test. If the next general election doesn’t achieve the reform, then the yearning is simply not genuine enough. 

However, even when realised, it’s naive to assume it’s unmanipulable. Vested interests within parties will keep trying to manipulate it. Yet, when sustained, it will undoubtedly make the quest for good governance more achievable, enabling people at various levels to push for and secure the emergence of the best amongst them as parties’ candidates for various elective offices.

That way, Nigerians will be able to break free from the grip of party delegates to freely elect the calibre of people with the capacity, credibility, inventiveness, and passion necessary to turn things around in the country.

Though the beneficiaries of the status quo will vehemently resist and undermine any attempt to reform it, they will eventually succumb to the collective willpower of the people, provided they remain passionate, resilient, and determined enough.