The tale of two legacies — Sanwo-Olu’s blocks vs. Alausa’s ‘bargain’

By Adamu Mohammad

In a single week, the Nigerian education sector has become a theater of jarring contradictions. While one leader is being hailed for expanding the boundaries of learning, another is being accused of auctioning off the very ground upon which it sits. In the heart of Ajegunle, Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. This wasn’t just a renovation; it was an 11.73-hectare statement of intent.

By regenerating 36 schools into a world-class academic hub for 20,000 students, Sanwo-Olu proved that public infrastructure can be restored through direct investment. No land was sold. No playgrounds were traded for luxury flats. But as Lagos builds, the Federal Ministry of Education led by Dr. Tunji Alausa, a prominent figure from the same Lagos political stable stands accused of presiding over a predatory “land grab” in Kano.

At Federal Government College Kano the dust of celebration has been replaced by the fire of protest. The alumni association (FGCKOSA) has successfully secured an interim court injunction to halt construction on what they call a “shameful and lopsided deal.” The court order effectively freezes a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal involving Pluck Global Construction Company.

Under the terms approved by the Ministry, the developer is being handed 30 hectares of the school’s prime land nearly half of the entire school to build a private commercial housing estate.

The figures behind the deal reveal a staggering disparity that has fueled the alumni’s “theft” allegations, The developer, Pluck Global Construction, is committed to spending only N8.5 billion on school renovations. While the Alumni and valuation experts estimate the market value of the 30 hectares of prime Kano land at over N80 billion. So by selling off luxury residential plots within the school walls, the land grabbers stand to make a projected N50 billion to N70 billion in sales, dwarfing the meager amount they are reinvesting into the school’s crumbling classrooms.

The irony is sharp enough to draw blood as Dr. Tunji Alausa, as a Minister in the Federal Ministry of Education, has championed these PPP guidelines to “harness private sector funding.” Yet, critics point out the hypocrisy of a leadership class that exports “development” to Lagos while exporting “dispossession” to the North.

In Lagos, they understand that land is the future of the student,” said one protesting alumnus. “But here in Kano, Minister Alausa’s ministry is treating our unity school like a real estate portfolio. They are giving away our heritage for a fraction of its worth.”

The contrast is now the talk of the nation. In the Ajeromi area, children are walking into new classrooms; in the Kano metropolis, alumni are standing in front of bulldozers.

Sanwo-Olu used government funds to consolidate 36 schools, adding 19 mini-football pitches and a vocational center, saving institutions like Expressway, Tincan, while the Federal Ministry of Education  is accused of carving out the school’s main football pitch, the school mosque, and the Christian students’ chapel to benefit a private company who intend building Night Clubs, Gas Stations and real Estates.

As the court order in Kano maintains a tense status quo, the message being sent to the Nigerian public is clear: while some are building the future with bricks and mortar, others are allegedly stealing it, one hectare at a time.

Adamu Mohammad

Alumin FGC KANO