Some indigenes and residents of Kano state have condemned in totality the demolition of historic Kano government roundabout by governor Abba Yusuf.

Governor Abba Yusuf reportedly ordered the demolition in the early hours of Wednesday.

The roundabout, known as Kano Golden Jubilee Monument, was erected in the year 2017, to commemorate Kano’s attainment of 50 years as a state.

Reacting to the development, former special adviser to former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, said the demolition broke his heart.

Yakasai said once the NNPP-led administration loses the trust of Kano people there is no regaining it.

Yakasai, who described the demolition as heartbreaking, said: “We’ve not seen any plans for a new Kano. We’ve not heard of ways to make Kano greater, all (the governor) has been doing since assuming office is vindictiveness, some justified others not so much. Once you lose the goodwill of Kano, there is no gaining it back, even if you will turn it to Mecca.

“The argument that the Kano Monument causes traffic is so baseless. There is huge traffic everyday around 5pm in different parts of Kano. Instead of solving the traffic situation in Kano, you can’t go about destroying a monument,” he said.

He added: “We were told the Kano Monument causes traffic, we were told it causes accident, we were told Ganduje used it to siphon funds. They don’t even know which argument to put forward in defending this madness. All of these can be addressed without demolition of the monument.”

Also reacting to the demolition through his social media handles, publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jafar Jafar, described the demolition as a “thoughtless decision.”

Jafar, who recalled that the monument was designed by a young female architect to commemorate Kano’s Golden Jubilee, wrote: “We must all condemn this thoughtless decision to demolish this monument, designed by a young female architect to commemorate Kano’s Golden Jubilee.

“I support the ongoing demolishing of private buildings in schools, hospitals, mosques, but not wanton destruction of public monuments/buildings, simply because they were built by Ganduje. I do not like the politician in Ganduje but I like some of his projects as a governor.”

Another commentator, Abdullahi Mohammed said the historic roundabout “was the brain child of the sub-committee on monument, headed by a renowned Kano born architect, and endorsed and approved by the main committee of 51 prominent Kanawas, chaired by the late Prof. Umar of blessed memory and co-chaired by then deputy governor of Kano state, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar.

“The design of the monument was even picked among ten others presented by young and aspiring architects, if my memory doesn’t fail me, I think it was the one designed by a lady that was selected. In their presentation to the main committee back then, the idea behind the design as postulated was that, the lower gate signifies the old city state of Kano, while the bigger gate stands for the ever growing and expanding modern Kano, as for the trumpet atop of the structure that embodied the hospitable nature of Kano and Kanawas.

“Now back to the senseless destruction of this beautiful edifice, admired not only by Kanawas, but all lovers of classic architecture, of all the recent acts by the State government, this is the most cruel, ill-conceived, and malicious display of insensitivity and common sense,” he said.

Also lamenting the demolition, another Kano resident, Ali Ahmad Geidam described the edifice as one of the beautiful landmarks in Nigeria he adored.

Geidam wrote on his Facebook page: “One of the most beautiful edifices and landmarks I adore in Kano and Nigeria in general. Sadly is now no more.” (The Guardian)

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