16/04/2026
DESECRATION OF FGC KANO: HOW COMMERCIAL INTERESTS SUBVERT THE PUBLIC GOOD
KLEADS Calls for Immediate Review
The Kano Leadership, Enlightenment and Advocacy for Development Initiative (KLEADS) a registered civil society organisation headquartered in Kano—hereby expresses its solidarity with the Old Students Association of Federal Government College (FGC) Kano over the alarming development concerning the proposed transfer of part of the College’s land to a private “developer” under the guise of a so-called Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Over the years, KLEADS has established a credible record of constructive, principled advocacy, consistently engaging authorities and mobilising public opinion in defence of the common good.
Our interventions such as the opposition to the ill-timed and ill-prioritised Kano intra-city rail project underscore our commitment to ensuring that governance reflects the real needs and priorities of the people.
KLEADS has also recorded impactful advocacy at the federal level.
Our interventions contributed to the reversal of inequitable N-Power slot allocations under the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, where Kano despite delivering over two million votes in the 2015 presidential election was initially allocated only about 4,400 slots, compared to over 11,000 for Rivers State.
Following sustained engagement, including direct advocacy with Kano’s National Assembly members, the Federal Government adopted a more equitable, Local Government-based distribution formula.
Similarly, KLEADS intervened on the Kiru Film Village project, advocating for the redirection of budgeted funds toward alternative development priorities anchored on community consultation.
In keeping with this mandate, we stand firmly with all stakeholders committed to protecting public education from encroachment, neglect, and predatory commercial interests.
We are equally opposed to the growing trend of disposing public assets without adequate consultation, transparency, or accountability core pillars of responsible governance.
THE FGC KANO LAND CONTROVERSY
Available information indicates that the Federal Government, through its representatives, has initiated a process to allocate approximately 30 hectares of prime land belonging to FGC Kano to a private developer.
This is reportedly in exchange for infrastructure projects valued at about ₦8.5 billion, including hostels, staff quarters, a clinic, and an ICT centre.
While these proposed developments may appear beneficial on the surface, the arrangement raises serious concerns of equity, foresight, and public interest.
The Old Students Association has rightly noted that it has, over decades, invested significantly in the institution without appropriating any portion of its land.
Their stance reinforces a fundamental principle: public institutions are not commodities to be traded for short-term gains.
A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT
The implications of this development extend far beyond FGC Kano. It reflects a broader and troubling pattern—the gradual erosion of public assets through opaque arrangements that prioritise private profit over collective good.
The founders of Federal Government Colleges were not shortsighted.
The lands allocated to these institutions were deliberately expansive, designed to accommodate future growth, expansion, and the evolving demands of education in a rapidly growing nation.
What is unfolding now bears the hallmarks of a “foot-in-the-door” strategy an incremental encroachment that begins with a portion and risks ending in total dispossession.
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF UNITY COLLEGES
Federal Government Colleges are not ordinary secondary schools.
They were conceived as instruments of national integration, bringing together young Nigerians from diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds to live and learn together.
At a time when national cohesion remains fragile, weakening such institutions amounts to undermining one of the few enduring pillars of unity.
To reduce them to land banks for commercial exploitation is to fundamentally misunderstand or deliberately disregard their national purpose.
FROM PRIVATISATION TO DISGUISED DISPOSSESSION
It is instructive that proposals were once advanced to outrightly sell Federal Government Colleges.
Nigerians across the country resisted, and those plans were abandoned.
What we are witnessing today appears to be a repackaged version of that same agenda, now presented under the cover of PPP arrangements.
If unchecked, this model could spread nationwide, turning public schools like many other national and subnational institutions into targets of incremental privatisation, or worse, systematic dismantling.
WHO REALLY BENEFITS?
Experience suggests that such arrangements often favour well-connected private interests, while the promised public benefits are delayed, diluted, or never fully realised.
There is legitimate concern that:
Prime educational land may be converted into high-end residential or commercial developments beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians;
Development commitments to the school may suffer delays or neglect;
Public institutions may progressively lose both space and capacity to serve future generations.
A NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION
This is not merely an FGC Kano issue it is a national concern.
The critical question before us is clear:
Are we prepared to accept, in silence, the gradual dismantling of public education in Nigeria?
Public education remains the most accessible pathway to opportunity for millions.
To weaken it is to deepen inequality and undermine national development.
OUR POSITION
KLEADS, therefore, Stands firmly with the FGC Kano Old Students Association in rejecting any arrangement that compromises the long-term integrity of the institution;
Calls on the Federal Government to immediately review and halt the proposed land transfer;
Demands full transparency in all PPP arrangements involving public educational institutions;
Urges Nigerians especially alumni, civil society organisations, and education stakeholders to remain vigilant and actively engaged.
CONCLUSION
Public education must not be sacrificed on the altar of commercial interests and short-term expediency.
To tamper recklessly with institutions designed to foster unity, equity, and national development is to gamble with the future of the nation.
The Kano State Government should take up and vigorously pursue this and similar cases across sectors with the Federal Government.
The timing is particularly appropriate, given the current political alignment between the State and the Federal Government under the same ruling party an alignment that should be leveraged in the public interest, not wasted.
KLEADS notes, with cautious optimism, the position of the Kano State Government distancing itself from this development.
This stance, if sustained, is a welcome step away from what many perceive as an ill-advised and unjustifiable encroachment on public educational assets.
KLEADS will continue to speak, act, and mobilise until public education is protected, preserved, and prioritised.
