Leadership (Abuja)
Mansur Sani Malam
22 June 2008
Kano — Kano State government has explained that the structures of the Christ the King Catholic Church, were demolished by the Kano State Urban Planning Development Agency (KANUPDA) because the Church officials refused to acquire Certificate of Occupancy before commencing building.
Explaining this to news men during a press briefing, managing director of KANUPDA, Dayyabu Zubairu Gano, said the temporary structure of the church at Na'ibawa in Kumbotso local government was removed, after serving them a notice four months ago, advising them to prove its legitimacy or remove it within time.
He added that at a meeting of various stakeholders on March 5, 2008, involving the issue, part of the resolution was that KANUPDA must ensure the demolishing of the structure in accordance with the provision of the law.
Dayyabu Gano explained that the agency wrote a letter on March 27, 2008 calling the attention of the owners of the church, to recall the resolutions of the meeting and the previous notice in order to make arrangement to clear their structures, or else the authority according to him, will have no alternative than to take final action.
He stated that a seven day notice was also given to the church officials, before they sent a letter on the March 31, 2008, pleading on the issue at stake afterwhich the authority of KANUPDA advised them further as appropriate. He added that the removal exercise was not carried out earlier, due to the pleading made by the church officials.
The MD said adequate information and notice was already served to the Church that it is illegal for them to erect the structures, because there is no evidence of issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy to them.
A source from the church alleged that officials of the church have for over ten years applied for the Certificate of the Occupancy, but were not granted by the state government.
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The difference is clear in the two religions; Islam is a religion of imposition with force of arms whereas Christianity is religion of free will based on conviction. It is less than truthful for the Kano Government to offer such a convoluted excuse for demolishing a place of worship.
The truth of matter is that the Muslims are freaking scared that the church in the heart of Kano would be a stand post to convert willing Muslims into the Christians religion. The Christians never quarrel when one of them decides to become a Muslim because he/she simply exercised his his/her own free will.
The Big question is how this little minded Governor of Kano state feels if a Mosque or a Holy Koran was demolished by Christians? I bet you he would directly supervise the mayhem that would ensued. The Muslim religion as proposed by Mohammed was not designed to be a destructive religion after all both religions are worshiping the same God via; different method. Methodology therefore should not be a reason to violate the principle of God or Allah depending on what you call the Supreme Being.
I have come in contact with devoted Muslims overseas and I can assure you they are ashamed of the likes of Sani of Zamfara State and the Governor of Kano State. These guys are narrow minded and should not be leaders in a democratic nation. It is against this backdrop that Nigeria should be Balkanized because this forced marriage put together by Britain for its own economic interest is counter productive and it is not working out. The Muslims to the North and the Christians to the South are diametrical opposite and therefore should not live together as a nation and that is not to say that individuals with good understanding no matter their religion should not be friends or even get married. If the Nigeria Oil wealth was situated in the North I bet you the North would have long gone since they already control the bombs and guns and are ready to us them any time.
The reason offered by the Kano state government is completely unacceptable and if they are acting in good fate they provide the Church another location and compensate the Church for the demolition. This is how to begin the healing.
The government of this particular state should be careful to avoid religious descrimination and incitement to religious unrest. IT SHOULD LEARN TO TREAT ALL RELIGIOUS GROUPS EQUALLY.
The demolition was not right.If it was a Mosque will they demolish it? Does it mean all churches and Mosques in Kano state have COF? meanwhile the church said they have applied for over ten years without being considered. Kano state government should have a re-think and not present itself as a Sharia state which maybe they are idont know. There should equal treatment for all in the Northern states of Nigeria.Even though Northern Nigeria is predorminantly Moslem,they Christians should be given equal rights.