Goron Dutse: Open letter to Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
It is with utmost respect to you and enormous concern for your time in office and the legacy you would leave behind that we write this humble letter to intimate you of the ugly development about to take place in our community, Goron Dutse, Gwale Local Government Area.
This is on the clearance, and possibly, allocation of the land of Goron Dutse mountain, which is an iconic monument in the history of our dear state.
Dear governor, Kano has only three conspicuous monuments, namely, Dala, Goron Dutse and Badala.
Badala has unfortunately been wiped out from the map of Kano by dismantling its structure by successive governments, thus belittling the labour of our forefathers, which we all pledged to uphold.
Without history, there is no culture; and without culture, there is no heritage, and without heritage there is no community or people.
We are not unaware of the enormous pressure on you to succumb to this unnecessary and futile project, but at the same time, we strongly believe, without an iota of doubt, that the erection of any structure be it residential or commercial - on that historical site - would deface the Goron Dutse landmark, distort its magnificent view and go down in history as an endeavour to achieve the selfish interest of few people who have no interest in our dear state.
We also wish to remind you that those unscrupulous people who do not have the interest of Kano at heart will always try to drag you into this kind of mess because at the end of the day, it is only your name that will feature in the distortion and disfiguration of the Goron Dutse monument, and thus suffer the repercussion of history.
We believe that a man of your calibre and exposure would expressly heed this call and even do more to keep this and other heritage intact because of the exalted position they occupy in our history.
Though the war to destroy or spare Goron Dutse is in its final stage and a lot has been said and done by both proponents and opponents, in terms of pros and cons of embarking on such encroachment on this historically weighty site, it is perhaps clear to all that you alone have the final say. We hope your decision would empathetically take into cognisance the interests of our people and not that of the agents of darkness who stand with guts to shamelessly and mercilessly take advantage of the populace at the expense of our history and heritage.
Sir, you ought to be working relentlessly towards registering and earmarking Dala da Goron-Dutse as UNESCO World Heritage sites - like many cities did - owing to the myth of Barbushe da Tsunburbura and also the historical facts associated with that particular landmark, which should not die along with history like Badala landmark did.
We sincerely pray to Almighty Allah to help you disperse the pressure and resist the temptation and put you on the right track to serve the general interest of Kano State.
This letter was endorsed by 1,000 people, whose names, phone numbers and addresses can be easily tendered on request for verification.
Dr Yusuf I. Rabiu, Kano