I received information of the allocation of the house to me via a phone call from the then Chairman, Bakori Local Government Council, Katsina State, himself, late Halilu Yahaya, may Allah have mercy on him.
I had indicated my interest via an application to the Local Government Chairman when the houses were under construction.
The houses, 30 in each local government area, Katsina State, were an initiative of Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema, who constructed many houses across the state and sold them to people during his tenure.
At the time I received the phone call from the chairman informing me that my application was successful, I was at Kurmin Mashi Police Station in Kaduna, reporting a burglary; my house had been broken into and some of my possessions carted away by thieves while I had travelled to Katsina on weekend. It was also the same day later armed robbers stopped my brother and I around Hunkuyi in Kaduna State and disposessed us of our money.
The chairman told me that I had one week in which to pay 10% of the cost of the house or forfeit the allocation. And the balance of 90% was to be paid within six months otherwise the house would be allocated to the next applicant on the waiting list. And I had no money at the time!
It was on a Saturday. I racked my brain on how I could raise money to pay for the 10% first and think of the balance later. Throughout that day and the next, no idea came to my mind. I had a couple of plots but doubted if I could find a buyer within one week.
I slept on the matter for two days. Then on Monday morning, I received an “alert” from my bank, indicating that some money had been paid into my account. I checked the narration and realized that I had been paid some outstanding allowances. The amount was more than three times what I needed to pay the 10% deposit for the house! With my heart thumping wildly against my ribs, I went to the bank and transferred the 10% deposit into the local government account.
Armed with the payment teller, I went to Bakori, presented the teller and collected a receipt and the allocation letter. At the time, only the foundation for the building was laid, so I had some time within which to settle the balance.
While the houses were still under construction, I applied for a housing loan through the Federal Government Staff Housing Loan Scheme to enable me offset the balance. The local government chairman who allocated the house to me, Malam Halilu Yahaya, had stepped aside then and the Vice Chairman, Aminu Magaji, Maza Wajen Bakori, had taken over. I approached him and explained that it was likely I might not be able to settle the balance within the stipulated time, so I needed a grace to enable me to obtain the housing loan. I brought some forms for him to sign that the loan, when granted, be paid into the local government account, and he agreed. I also got him to sign an agreement that the local government had waived the six month deadline until I secured the housing loan. But before the loan was approved, all local government chairmen were removed because their tenure had ended. In their place, the Heads of Personnel Management were directed to take over the affairs of all local government councils in Katsina State.
The person who took over in Bakori was someone I knew personally and he also knew me very well. All local government accounts at the time were controlled by the state government. So, it was difficult for them running the local governments. In order to generate money, they decided to, among other things, ask all beneficiaries of the Owner-occupier houses to pay up the balances for the houses. Again, I approached the Caretaker Committee Chairman and explained to him the agreement the former chairman signed for me. He flatly rejected the agreement and said it wasn’t binding on him. He even directed that a letter be written to me immediately and asked me to settle the balance or lose the house.
I was back to square one. I could no longer wait for the housing loan. I wasn’t even sure of getting the loan as there were rumours that the 10 billion naira approved for the loan had already been exhausted.
I decided to sell my two plots in Katsina which enabled me to pay for half the balance. I again pleaded with the chairman to grant me more time to settle the rest. When he agreed, I asked him to put it in writing. He summoned one of his staff and told him to draft the agreement for him to sign. After several months, the staff did not draft the agreement. He kept on giving one excuse after the other until it dawned on me that he wanted me to give him money before he drafted the letter. I refused, of course. In the end, I had to get another person to draft it and I took it to the chairman and he signed it.
For the other half, I approached my bank and was lucky enough to acquire the loan and settled the other balance.
After finally acquiring the house, I decided to fence it before moving in. There, again, some local government personnel started pestering me to give them money for a permit to erect the fence. They didn’t know that I had written and obtained approval from Katsina Urban Planning and Development Authority, KUPDA. So I ignored them and continued.
The next hurdle came when I applied for the local government certificate of occupancy. They promptly stole my file. I didn’t know this until after a long time when we were summoned to a meeting and told to settle the money for the houses. I told them I had completed my payment. They wanted to confirm, so they sent for my file. It was then discovered to have been missing. I showed them copies of all the letters in my file and all the original payment receipts. They directed that a new file be opened for me, using photocopies which I gave them. Several months later when another meeting was called, I was told that the photocopies I gave had been misplaced. Patiently, I gave them other copies.
A few days later, a staff of the local government approached me and advised me to give them money before another file was opened for me. That was when I told them to go to hell!
I’m still not sure if another file had been opened.