Governor Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman of Kwara state has been urged to save the land occupied by the Kwara state Polytechnic from land grabbers.
The clarion call was made by the Rector of the Polytechnic, Abdul-Jimoh Muhammed during the school’s recent 29th convocation ceremony.
The land, worth over N26 billion, the Rector said is now under serious threat from land encroachers.
The state government could save the institution by providing funds for the fencing of the 35-kilometre land being occupied by the school.
He stated that owners of the land have been compensated by the state government since 1974 when the polytechnic was established, in spite of this, some people are still erecting structure on the large expanse of land, he said.
According to him, “The estimated value of the land of the Kwara State Polytechnic, which stretches to about 35 kilometres, is put at N26bn in today’s value of the land. Despite the efforts of the management, people are still constructing buildings on the polytechnic’s land.
“Entrance through the main gate of the polytechnic presents a worrisome sight with unauthorised structures emerging on both sides of the road. The presence of these illegal structures poses a great challenge to the security of the institution.
“The management, though appreciates the state government effort, we wish to appeal to the government to do more to stop the menace of selling the public properties.”