El-Rufai to shame Kaduna elites who build on school land

The Kaduna State government is set to shame individuals who build on land meant for public schools by naming them, an official has said. Samuel Aruwan, who speaks for Governor Nasir El-Rufai, said the names will be made public soon.
There have been public altercations between owners of such buildings and the state government as the owners say they acquired the land through due process.
Mr. Aruwan, while addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Saturday, said the state government is determined to restore the lands to the schools.

According to Mr. Aruwan, the ongoing recovery exercise is now being implemented in Rimi College, Kaduna. Founded in 1941 as Saint John’s College, the school occupies 24.387 hectares of land.
He added that previous governments “eventually excised a total of 3.19 hectares, which they gave to private individuals. The school also lost its students’ hostels which were converted to offices for some state and federal agencies.”
On when government will make public names of those allocated land in the school, Mr. Aruwan said, “The promise made by the governor will be fulfilled soon”.
He added that the government considers it prudent to publish the names of the individuals that were allocated plots of land within the school by previous administrations.
“The Government is aware that some of the 38 beneficiaries of the allocations took no steps to develop their plots because they had reservations about building on school property.
“Government hopes that our elite would subscribe to a consensus that preserves and respects the integrity of social asset like schools and hospitals. Take it from me that the public will get to know everything and nothing will be hidden,” he said.
One of the persons who lives in his house in Rimi College told PREMIUM TIMES that although his house is on the school land, he followed due process to acquire it.
“I got my land by following the right channel, but I am willing to quit the property for the betterment of our state,” he said. “I just hope we get some kind of compensation from the government.”

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