But the Kaduna State Government has kept mute on the matter as an official contacted declined to comment while another neither picked up calls nor replied to messages sent to his phone.
The Old Students' Association of Federal Government Colleges (FGC) in Nigeria has accused the Kaduna State Government of illegally encroaching on the school's land and called on appropriate authorities to intervene urgently.
The association said the new development contravenes the stance of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), which it noted is the custodian of the school and its assets.
But the Kaduna State Government has kept mute on the matter as an official contacted declined to comment while another neither picked up calls nor replied to messages sent to his phone.
Genesis
The students' body narrated that the Kaduna State Government had in 2015 requested the federal education ministry to cede parts of the school's land to it for use. But PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the ministry declined citing security concerns.
Addressing journalists in Lagos on Sunday, the National President of the association, Seyi Gambo, said in 2015, via a memo addressed to the education ministry, Kaduna State had requested "no objection to excise 45 metres of land from the South-Western end of the fence inwards along the stretch of Umar Mohammed Road to provide plots for immediate development."
"But the Ministry would later decline the request in a letter dated 12 February 2015 and directed to the Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Lands, Surveys and Country Planning," the president of the association explained.
Mr Gambo said the letter of objection was signed by the then Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Chike Uwaezuoke, who he noted rather urged the government to consider the space outwards from the "North Western end of the wall fence of the school precisely along Rabah Road, without encroaching into the college's land."
The association further noted that another attempt by the state government was made in July 2015 and that the development prompted the management of the college to complain in writing to the FME.
The school management was said to have insisted that "allowing residential buildings near the school would expose the students and staff to insecurity."
Fresh attempt
According to Mr Gambo, after the foiled attempts of 2015, the government had stopped its "illegal efforts to claim the land until about a week ago when the government through its Ministry of Urban Planning and Development (KASUPDA) wrote again seeking excision of unutilised land along the stretch of River Kaduna for security reasons."
Mr Gambo said: "This is the same land they have been trying to acquire since 2015. The pretence that the land is being excised for security reasons falls short of any truth whatsoever.
"Immediately this letter was sent to the school bulldozers moved to the site, plans to build private homes have begun by withdrawing allotted plots and work is presently going on at that site 24 hours/7 days a week."
Association kicks
The association described the state government's action as "illegal," saying the action of writing to the school management instead of the FME is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the law.
"This illegality is not only distasteful but pure wickedness on the part of leaders. It is an agenda to obliterate the memories of the founding fathers of this country and the only institution which is the last bastion of moulding Nigerians devoid of the things responsible for our arrested development as a nation."
Mr Gambo said the Federal Land Use Act frowns at the government's conduct and quoted Section 9 of the Act specifically. He said the association would not allow the takeover of the school's lands which he alleged have been distributed among Kaduna bigwigs.
Mr Gambo said: "I am a beneficiary of the school in question - Federal Government College, Kaduna, which is situated in Malali village. I am one among many which include captains of industries, military generals, billionaires, and hard-working old students who are scattered across the globe from all Nigerian ethnic groups and who have adopted Kaduna as our cradle.
"We have benefitted from the success of our school and we will not be arms akimbo and watch some faceless leaders illegally take an inch of the land of our school. This we are told is the first of future balkanization of the perimeters of other unity schools across Nigeria."
Kaduna government keeps mum
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State, Ibrahim Musa, he declined to comment on the matter and directed the reporter to speak with the governor's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Muyiwa Adekeye.
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However, many calls to Mr Adekeye's mobile telephone number were not picked and neither did he respond to messages sent to the phone as of the time of filing this report.
'Why we're concerned'
Mr Gambo said the investments made in them by the school and their contributions to its growth in return would not allow them to permit any act of illegal take-over of the school's assets.
He said: "This school made all of us who we are today. Recently, we have rallied ourselves to give back to it. The Kaduna State Government is aware that we have an endowment on infrastructure which runs into billions.
"We are working on making FGC Kaduna a centre of information technology with the hosting of a SISCO training lab with certification for all graduates of the institution, and a telecommunication repair lab, among other plans to turn our students into global brands.
"The alumni association of this school are leaders of thought whose concerns for what is going on now is very grievous. It has angered us and we are going to fight this to the last until all lands belonging to our school are returned."
