Crystal Place Demolition Sparks Fierce Reactions…Gov AbdulRazaq, Ex-Senate President Saraki Among Dramatis Personae
A shopping complex called ‘Crystal Place’, which was before its demolition on Sunday night located near the Ministry of Works Roundabout, Ilorin, has become a subject of controversy.
The shopping complex in question belonged to a former member of the House of Representatives, who is also the Wakinlin of Ilorin, Hon Moshood Mustapha.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the demolition of the shopping complex had since sparked reactions and a salvo of pieces which had Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, a former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki , Governor AbdulRazaq’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, and one of the owners of shops that were demolished, Aminat Alege as dramatis personae .
The exchange of opinions began with a piece from the Waziri of Ilorin, who is also one of the governor’s predecessors, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki
The former Senate President accused the governor of victimizing opposition members in the state while also alleging that the building where his father, late Dr Olusola Saraki’s tomb is located is the next target for demolition.
‘Ordinarily, some people would expect that I would be indifferent to the weekend demolition of the Crystal Place, a shopping mall on Sulu Gambari Road in Ilorin, ordered by the government of Kwara State, because of the political relationship between me and the owner, Hon. Moshood Mustapha, who after serving as my commissioner, Special Adviser, and House of Representatives member under the platform of our party defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and has worked against our structure since 2018.
However, it is not my style to take positions on issues from the narrow, parochial perspective. It is my view that one should always look at the big picture, a broad perspective of any issue in reacting to it. It is violence against the people of Kwara State and the economy of the state. My decision to speak out against this action that reflects the pettiness of the governor and his government, which is anti-people, and against the economic development of the state is irrespective of who is involved.
The state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is using this demolition exercise to intimidate, suppress, and silence all Kwarans. It is his reaction to the growing unpopularity of everything that he represents within the state. Why is Abdulrazaq just realizing the fault or whatever he interprets to be wrong with the building of the Crystal Mall structure after 64 months that he has been in office?
The Kwara State governor is ordering this demolition as his response in the aftermath of the recently conducted local government polls where people in all the constituencies massively voted and rose against his party and its candidates, even when he malevolently, fraudulently, and maliciously got contrary results to be declared by his hand-picked electoral officials. This is the beginning of a war against Kwara State for rejecting a governor who has failed to deliver good governance on all fronts. We should recall that he has ordered the arrest of some opposition politicians on frame-up charges.
In my view, AbdulRazaq believes unveiling a regime of violence and destruction against the people, particularly, the elite and their property will impose a culture of silence on the state. Now, the news circulating across Ilorin is that the next target of Abdulrazaq’s demolition squad is the place where the remains of my late father, Oloye (Dr.) Abubakar Olusola Saraki, of blessed memory, is interred. Even, this evil plan will not stop me from saying what is right. Let me make it clear that he will only try, he must be joking if he thinks he can erase the legacies left by the great Oloye.
What this Governor should know is that Kwara State does not belong to him. The state has existed long before he became governor and will continue to exist after he has ceased to be governor. After all, he has just about 31 months before he becomes a former governor. Abdulrazaq is the seventh democratically elected governor. None of those before him embarked on the demolition of properties to fight political opponents or score cheap political points. If I, or the five other elected governors before him – late Alh. Adamu Attah, Chief C. O. Adebayo, Alh. Shaba Lafiagi, late Alh. Mohammed Lawal, and Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed – had been demolishing the structures belonging to people for personal vendetta, nothing would have remained of Kwara State before he assumed office in 2019.
AbdulRazaq should know we will not allow him to destroy the peace, tranquility, and fear of God that Ilorin, in particular, and Kwara State in general, stand for. His eight years as governor cannot reshape the history of our Emirate and the State that has been in existence for over 50 years.
With this demolition of Crystal Mall, over one hundred youths who work there have lost their jobs and source of livelihood. Also, the 21 shop owners in that complex have lost their investment. What a loss to the state economy! At a time when people are facing hardship and there are no jobs, the focus of government should not be to destroy investment. The emphasis should be on how to grow the economy, help the private sector increase its investment in the state, generate employment, and make life better for ordinary people. These are key aspects of the basic functions of a government that has a purpose.
I urge all leaders of thought in Ilorin, members of the Ulammahs, elders, and other key stakeholders not to keep quiet. What the present government in Kwara State is doing is waging war against the people. It is bent on impoverishing the people. We should not be afraid to speak truth to power. This action of Abdulrazaq should not intimidate any of us. We should speak out because the motive is faulty and the aim is evil.
Let me also use this opportunity to call on all Kwarans to remain fearless, undaunted, and undeterred in standing against a government that has failed to fulfill its responsibilities to them. They should not allow this governor to destroy the peace that Kwara State is known for in the comity of Nigerian states’ he submitted.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has also responded to the former Senate President while hitting out at him and expressing strong disapproval of his allegations.
Restating commitment to his administration’s urban renewal programme , the governor also noted that in a growing capital city like Ilorin, a ‘courageous leadership’ is required to restore sanity.
‘The urban renewal programme of the AbdulRazaq administration, which includes restoring or upgrading the original plan of the capital city as much as possible to fit the current realities, was long due’ the governor submitted in a riposte made available to by his Chief Press Secretary , Mr Rafiu Ajakaye.
‘It is what a responsible government should have done many years ago when the first Ilorin master plan expired in the early 2000.
The chaotic and unplanned slum that our great capital city had become until recently is a dirty relic of the Bukola Saraki years when just anyone in the corridors of powers or their cronies could patch on any available land to erect structures with scant regard for any urban planning code. The result is the environmental disaster seen in many parts of Ilorin and environs and its consequences for lives and property.
The governor has no history of cornering public property for himself or his family. What he has done so far within the law is to courageously reclaim for Kwarans what rightly belongs to them, but was taken away or dubiously converted to personal use during the reigns of Saraki and his cronies. From the dubious sales of lands at the judges quarters to the Amusement Park, Galadimawa Estate, Kwara Liaison Offices in Kaduna and Lagos, Flower Garden, and Ile Arugbo, which they sold to themselves or mismanaged, the list of the heist is endless and mind-boggling.
The next time Mr. Saraki is in the state, he should have the courage to see what the government has made of the Flower Garden and the Ile Arugbo land that was stolen from the people. Sprouting right there is a multi-storey building that will house a one-of-its-kind hospital to improve the quality of healthcare delivery for the people and strengthen economic prosperity.
It is not surprising to see Mr. Saraki foaming at the mouth because the reform has once again, recovered for the people a land whose approval was for a car park, per the signature of his own successor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, but was wrongly converted to another thing entirely. Reckless behaviours such as this were the features of the Saraki years, and we expected nothing less from him.
Restoring sanity in a growing capital city like Ilorin requires courageous leadership that will not be stonewalled by the blackmail of the likes of Saraki. The urban renewal of Governor Abdulrazaq is being done with full regard for the law, pragmatic empathy, and our context as a people — just as we saw in the years of the late Major General George Innih who took Ilorin to the next level in urban renewal and physical development’ he added.
One of the owners of shops that were demolished in the state capital, Aminat Alege in a statement she issued Ilorin and made available to Team@orientactualmags.com however condemned the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye for giving a justification for the demolition of the shopping complex in question.
‘I read the piece authored by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye in response to the statement issued by former Senate President and Waziri of Ilorin over the demolition of Hon Moshood Mustapha’s shopping complex. The demolition exercise was carried out in the wee hours of Sunday.
As a victim, I expected a response stating the reasons why the said property owned by a Kwaran with the sole intention of giving back to society by investing in the state was demolished to enable Kwarans see beyond the sudden political differences between the governor and a member of his party, Hon Moshood Mustapha.
It is so unfortunate that the same media trial and noise for the past 64 months is the same story we are still compelled to live with.
In the statement issued by Rafiu Ajakaye, It is clear that the job of a spokesperson is a tough job and no wonder almost all governors’ spokespersons do sink with them.
Urban renewal is all about clearing out blighted areas in metropolitan areas to allow new housing, business and developments and it will also improve the lives of the residents morally and economically.
If the current demolition of properties belonging to business owners is the definition of urban renewal or not, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye , it will be on your conscience that you sit within the confines of the Government House to celebrate the shabby and illegal demolition of shops belonging to Kwarans in the guise of urban renewal-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
