The disappearing government owned houses in Kano

Investigation by Pyramid Trust revealed that when the first civilian governor of Kano, the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi handed over power in 1983 there were closed to 2000 houses termed as GPs that were occupied by civil servants. The investigation further revealed that since that time a single house of that category has not been […]

Investigation by Pyramid Trust revealed that when the first civilian governor of Kano, the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi handed over power in 1983 there were closed to 2000 houses termed as GPs that were occupied by civil servants. The investigation further revealed that since that time a single house of that category has not been built by subsequent administrations. And not only that, the houses have been disappearing by the day. Reports have it that not up to 600 of these houses are remaining and there is nobody to say where the houses have gone.

Most of these houses as discovered by Pyramid Trust were razed down and in their places  new structures with a different ownership are built.

Another problem with regards to the GPs is how civil servants that retired from service wouldn’t want to vacate these houses. Some of them deemed it fit to vandalize the house before vacating not minding the consequences of doing so.

Disturbed by what is happening, some indigenes of the state decided to form an association with the sole aim of monitoring the houses, taking census of the houses and making effort to see that the houses are sold to the civil servants in the state.

This group; calling itself the GPs Association under the chairmanship of Engr Abdulkadir Suleiman has been making passionate appeal to the state government to sell the houses to those that are occupying them and the money got can be used to build more houses and again sold to other civil servants. In this way the whole thing will be a revolving scheme. According to him, the proposal if adopted would help in reducing accommodation problems faced by civil servants in the state.

He expressed dismay over how these houses have been disappearing from about 2000 to less than 600 now, “it is disheartening  that these houses that numbered up to 2000 in the past has been disappearing to the point that it remains only 580 now and nobody can tell you where the rest had gone.”

The leader disclosed how his group had written to the state governor suggesting the sale of the houses to the civil servants, saying, though the governor had directed the letter to the ministry of works to that effect, nothing has been done yet.

He further explained that the proposal if fully implemented would open more job opportunities to the teeming unemployed youths in the state, saying the bricklayers and the labourers that would work at the construction sites would all get something to do to earn money. “If these remaining houses are sold to the occupants, the money can be used to build more houses to be sold again to more civil servants.  Through this effort, problem of accommodation would be minimized. And apart from the civil servants benefitting, more people will also benefit at the construction sites, at the market where building materials are sold and even food sellers that will be selling at the construction site,” he said.

Suleiman disclosed how his group had contacted the Head of Service on the issue even before writing to the state governor, but still it has remained a forlorn attempt.

Pyramid Trust learnt that prior to his becoming the governor of the state, Malam Shekarau was a member of that association and with him they had worked towards achieving that goal of having the houses sold to the civil servants. Now as the governor of the state, it keeps baffling the members of the GPs Association that this problem is still lingering.

Pyramid Trust also learnt that from time to time huge amount of money is expended by the state government to renovate the houses but despite that effort, the houses continue  to disappear. A source that craved for anonymity disclosed how the state government had lost more than 80 houses of this category to the federal government and nothing was done to get them back. According to the source, the state government had no intention of selling the houses to the civil servants because such actions would tantamount to selling government assets. This is even when the government could not ensure its preservation. The only thing that the government had done according to the source was to set up a committee that would assess the houses.

A civil servant interviewed who spoke on condition of anonymity said the main problem of every civil servant is how he could get his personal house before retirement. He noted that if government could come up with a scheme that would provide houses at an affordable price to its workers, such gesture would go a long way in boosting their morale, “if a worker is sure that after retirement he will have his own house, that assurance alone is enough to boost his morale and make him work diligently for his state.”

All effort made by Pyramid Trust to hear from the government had proved abortive. When it contacted the state Ministry of Works and Housing on the issue; most especially as the governor’s letter was directed to that ministry, the commissioner through his public relations officer declined to comment saying it was a policy issue which he had no right to talk about. He stated that the Head of Service was in the right position to talk. When Pyramid Trust called on the Head of Service’s public relations officer, he in turn said it was not the jurisdiction of his boss.

He noted that the fact that the state governor’s letter was addressed to the Ministry of Works and Housing was enough to show under whose jurisdiction the issue lies.