IN the wee hours of Thursday, January 2, armed security personnel accompanied bulldozers to demolish buildings erected on popular Ile Arugbo, Ilofa road, GRA, Ilorin, reported to belong to the late Kwara State political icon, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
The demolition exercise was achieved after the combined security personnel team of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Army fired teargas and gunshots to disperse the aged women and youths, who had kept vigil on the building for three nights.
After they were overpowered by the security team, the aged could only chant “Allahu” and rained abuses on the government and security personnel as they watched their abodes being demolished.
A socio-political group, Olusola Saraki Legacy Group, had earlier raised the alarm over the plan by the state government to demolish structures on plots 1, 3 and 5 on Ilofa road, allegedly owned by the late Senate leader of the Second Republic,
Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
The group, in a statement signed by its coordinator, Zikhrullahi Abdullahi, had said that at about 11.45 p.m. on the eve of the New Year, a senior government official had led a demolition squad equipped with a bulldozer to Ilofa road with the aim of bringing down the structure on the land.
“However, the squad was resisted by a crowd of supporters of the Sarakis, mostly old women, who quickly mobilised and started making noise and vowing to lay down their lives instead of allowing any damage to be done to the property.
“The old women told the squad that with their advanced age, they are not afraid to die and would be ready to lay down their lives.
“In a sudden twist, the government official received a phone call from an unknown person and then directed the driver of the bulldozer and other members of his team to withdraw while he hopped into a vehicle and drove off,” he said.
It was also gathered that the family of the late politician had filed a suit challenging the revocation order by the state government. The court process was said to have been filed at the High Court, Ilorin, on Tuesday and served on the Inspector-General of Police through the state police command, just as the state Attorney-General was also said to have been served.
Prior to the demolition early Thursday, there had been accusations and counter-accusations by the state government and the immediate past Senate President and scion of the Saraki dynasty, Dr Bukola Saraki, over the ownership of the land.
Amid public enquiry on the status of the property it recently reclaimed, the state government, through the Bureau of Land, had, on Wednesday, said it decided to reclaim the landed property because it was meant for phase III of the state secretariat, state civil service clinic and parking lot.
“The entire land was acquired in the 1970s for overriding public interest and same was initially designed to host the phase II of the state secretariat. The construction of the said state secretariat Phase II was actually commenced and it was at superstructure level before same was abandoned,” Director-General of the Bureau of Land, Ibrahim Salman, said in a statement.
“The entire land was later redesigned in the 1980s for the construction of a civil service clinic, state secretariat and a parking lot for both the clinic and the state secretariat.
“The clinic was subsequently constructed in 1982, while the remaining plots of land were conceived for the expansion of the clinic into a full-fledged hospital.
“The dream of the state government was stalled when part of the land slated for the parking lot was spuriously allocated in principle to one Asa Investment for commercial purpose.
“From available records, the allocation was not based on a formal application, nor application forms filled; there was no evidence of payment for the said allocation as stipulated in the letter of allocation in principle and consequently, no right of occupancy was ever issued to the company.
“Furthermore, in flagrant abuse of the allocation terms, the company took possession of the land and constructed what is today known as ‘Ile Arugbo’ on part of the land that was designed as parking lot and later conceived to host the expansion of the civil service clinic into a full-fledged hospital.
“Following a resolution of the Kwara State House of Assembly mandating him to revoke/withdraw the spurious allocation, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq recently signed an instrument to reclaim the land on the ground that same was unlawfully allocated to a private company, contrary to the public purpose of its acquisition and occupied in breach of the terms of allocation,” Salman added.
“However, the immediate past Senate President and scion of Saraki dynasty, who was also two-term governor of Kwara State, Dr Bukola Saraki, said efforts of the state government was to erase legacies of his (Saraki’s) late father, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
In his reaction to the development on December 28, 2019, entitled: “Revocation of the late Saraki’s land: Abdulrasaq has crossed the line,” the former Senate President said “war of attrition waged against the legacy of his father and everything that belongs to the late politician simply portrayed the governor as a man who lacks the sense of history and set out only to fight the Saraki family but not to serve the interest of Kwarans.
“Yesterday night, the Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, finally showed his true colour when he announced his decision to revoke the ownership of a property rightfully held by my late father, Dr Olusola Abubakar Saraki on Plots 1, 3 and 5 Ilofa Road, GRA, Ilorin, popularly known as Ile Arugbo, (Old People’s home) which, since the Second Republic, has always been used to host the weekly gathering of a multitude of aged people in the society who are provided food, money and health services, as part of the social welfare programme sponsored by the late politician. The tradition has since been maintained.
“Before now, this same governor had invited all the members of the state House of Assembly and directed them to commence the process of amending the law to change the name of the state university which the last administration renamed after my late father, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki. He then followed up on this act of vengeance by initiating a bill to rename the university and expunge the name of the late Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
“Now, he has decided to also revoke the titles of the landed property which belongs to the late politician. Maybe Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq thinks his will be the last administration in Kwara State but definitely, this is self delusion.
“The property had been rightfully allocated to my late father under the name of one of his companies, Asa Investment Limited, since the 1980s and contrary to the claim of the governor, the land was properly allocated and a Right of Occupancy title issued on it. It should be noted that the excuse given by Abdulrazaq in his revocation order holds no water since it is clear that this is the height of his vengeance against my father, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki and me.
“Till today, many Kwarans have been wondering what problem the governor has with the late Oloye Abubakar Olusola Saraki or what the late politician did to offend him. It is surprising that of all vacant plots of land in strategic places across Ilorin township, the one that Abdulrahman found useful for his vengeful plan is the one owned by late Dr Saraki.
“It is beyond comprehension why a governor would set as his main agenda the objective of undermining and waging a war of attrition against a man who is no longer around.
“This action is clearly a manifestation of vengeance and it shows that this governor is not out to serve any public purpose or pursue any development agenda. In his narrow-mindedness, he believes his victory at the polls is an empowerment, entitlement and enablement to settle scores, provoke and pursue inter-family rivalry.
“Those who voted for the party in power in Kwara State and Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq obviously did not vote for the man to enable him to wage war against Dr Olusola Saraki and his legacies. They expected development and fulfillment of promises.
“If the governor believes people are not taking stock of his misguided and deceptive actions and that because he is in power, he could do whatever he likes, he must be a joker.
“Also, this war against the Sarakis will not successfully veil his unpreparedness for governance and divert people’s attention from the glaring lack of visionary, clear-cut plan to deliver on his empty promises to the people. He definitely cannot get away with all the atrocities he has been committing.
“Since the outcome of the elections in March, despite the fact that there are clear grounds to challenge the results in court, I have decided to demonstrate maturity, statemanship and sportsmanship. I have chosen not to make comment on the policies, programmes and actions of the administration in Kwara State or that of its head.
“Also, I deliberately stayed away from the state to avoid creating any distraction for the administration. My decision is borne out of a genuine restraint to enable the administration to settle down and fulfill its numerous promises to the people of our state.
“However, seven months down the line, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has shown that its cardinal programme is to wage war against my late father and me. He has demonstrated that his only competence and astuteness is in the area of viciously assailing the late Oloye Saraki and I. Definitely, he is a man with no sense of history. Enough is enough. Now, he has crossed the line.
“Perhaps, I should let it be known that if Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq thinks he is taking all these actions to get at me, he is only deceiving himself. There is no basis for competition between us. Our paths cannot cross because the status that he is struggling to attain, Almighty Allah has given it to me many years before now. I became governor 16 years before him and served out my constitutional limit of eight years. Within the period, I was chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum. I have moved on to serve in the federal legislature and by the grace of God, I headed the National Assembly as the number three man in the country.
“No matter, how well he tried to rewrite history, it is on record that I left Kwara State a lot better than I met it. In fact, the university that he is struggling to rename was established by my administration as just one out of many legacies we left behind. This governor needs a lot more efforts, years, intelligence and resources to attain the level Allah has taken me, not to talk of my late father, Dr Olusola Abubakar Saraki, the Senate Leader in the Second Republic.
“Just as I did after the election, my advise to Governor Abdulrazaq is that he should devote his time and energy to providing good governance and genuine development of the state.
“It is well known to the governor that I fear nobody, except Almighty Allah, the ultimate owner of all powers. With all his subterranean and open moves against my family, person and property, I remain unmoved. However, his open antagonism against my late father and his legacies is unwarranted and will not be tolerated. He has definitely gone beyond bounds as he cannot be allowed to ride roughshod on the deceased. In this war against my late father, he will not win.
“This governor has shown that he is not a man who wants peace, co-operation and development. He believes that a constant attack on my family and I is all that he needs to win the hearts of Kwara people. The need to provide good governance is secondary to him.
“However, it should be made clear to Abdulrazaq and his administration that their attack on my late father cannot erase the legacies of Oloye. No evil design, negative plot or propaganda can successfully rewrite the history of Kwara State. This plot against my late father will not stand. And I will like to make it clear that we will contest this petty, malicious, dubious and bias action of a parochial, vicious and vindictive administration through all legal means.
“We are sure this is not an action taken in public interest. Rather, it is done in pursuit of a selfish and devious objective.”
While many political analysts in the state have traced the present happenings to age-long political and personality rivalry between Saraki and Abdulrazaq family, many people are saying that the former governor is only having his share of the experience of what he did to others.
Alhaji Haroon Issa is one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) elders in Patigi Local Government Area of the Kwara North senatorial district. He traced some political happenings in the state. “How I wish Bukola Saraki have a flashback to 2003 when he became Kwara State governor. For your information, especially for those who were young and did not know what really happened then in 2003, immediately he assumed office, he dissolved all the 16 local government chairmen in Kwara State and replaced them with caretaker chairmen; dissolved all the development areas (DAs) created by Governor Muhammed Lawal and destroyed most of the legacy achievements and projects of ex-Governor Lawal. He changed names of some projects to bear Saraki’s name.
“He victimised ex-Governor Lawal and all his cabinet members even after they left office to the extent that some of them were chased out of Kwara.
“The licence of a nursery and primary school rightly owned by Mrs Aisha Lawal along Admiral Villa Drive was revoked by Bukola government, while the Idi-Ape Dried Fish Market was relocated and moved to Ipata Market because of the issue Saraki’s dynasty had with ex-Governor Lawal.
“There are numerous atrocities committed by Bukola Saraki government against the ex-Governor Lawal. So if his father illegally took into possession properties belonging to Kwara State, that does not stop a new government from revoking the properties for public use.”
Also reacting, a non-governmental organisation in the state, Kwara Legacy Network, in a statement signed by its state coordinator, Mallam Isola Bello, said such action portended a serious danger to peaceful co-existence of Ilorin community and the entire state.
It warned the administration against embarking on anything that can create tension in the state.
“The administration should have looked elsewhere to construct a new state secretariat rather than acquiring the late Olusola Saraki’s land at this time.
“There is no doubt that late Olusola Saraki had contributed his quota towards the development and growth of Ilorin and Kwara in general,” the statement said.
In their reaction, kinsmen of late Dr Saraki, under the aegis of Agbaji Development Association (ADA), argued that the action of the government was borne out of the age-long rivalry between the families of Saraki and AbdulRazaq.
Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, national president of ADA, Alhaji Musa Olanrewaju, said “the action of the state government to revoke the said property is a plan to erase the legacy of the political history of father of Kwara politics.
“The land in question has never been in contention with any government prior to coming of Mallam AbdulRazaq. Evidently, the property in question was being used by Dr Saraki to care for the aged, widows, less privileged and students who lack resources to face the challenges of life.
“The community implores the stakeholders to wade into the matter and find a lasting solution to the long-term rivalry between the two families.”
Also, the Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in a statement signed by its state chairman, Kola Shittu, described the demolition as a disservice to the memory of the late Saraki, popularly called Baba Oloye.
“The revocation of the land belonging to late icon of Kwara politics, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki by the state government is a further demonstration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s vindictiveness and vendetta mission against the Saraki family,” it said.
The party noted that the action of the governor did not in anyway reflect the interest of Kwara people, adding that such move was capable of creating rivalry and crisis among people of Ilorin in particular and the state in general.
“As it is well known to the members of the public, the landed property houses the popular Ile-Arugbo, where aged people used to converge to receive food, financial support and healthcare services sponsored by the late politician and philantropist; a tradition that has remained unbroken years after Baba’s demise as it has been sustained by his son, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“The widespread condemnation that has greeted the revocation of the property is a clear indication that the governor’s move is not in tandem with the interest of people of Kwara.
“He is, therefore, advised to listen to voice of reason and have a rethink. Also, Governor Abdulrazaq should know that there is absolutely nothing he can do to exterminate Saraki’s legacies and that of his son, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki or erase their love in the hearts of Kwarans.
“Governor Abdulrazaq needs to be reminded that he was elected to deliver governance and development and not to settle family or political scores. He should jettison issues and actions that do not promote the interests and development of the people of Kwara,” the party noted.
It called on traditional rulers, spiritual and community leaders and stakeholders in the state to call Governor Abdulrazaq to order, adding that the kind of politics being played by the governor was too toxic for the harmony Kwara had enjoyed for decades.
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