No matter what the harshest critics of Governor Darius Ishaku say, one thing I noticed is, no one casts a shadow of doubt on his good intentions, and his patriotism for Taraba State. He has been slammed for his seemingly over bloated appointments and other inconsequential, mundane issues. But both praise singers and wailers alike agree with the verdict that this seasoned architect means well for the state.
His intense zest, innovative spirit and dedication is hardly questioned. No one appears to lose sight of this. And as the citizens reflect on 25 years of statehood (the year of Jubilee), one point that stands out like a volcanic eruption is the issue of performance of our governors across the years. Citizens are bound to think back to all the administrations that have come and gone in the state. How have they fared? Did they reign with the fear of God and clarity of purpose? Have they been able to translate the wishes of the masses to concrete achievements? Have they assist us to reclaim and run with the visions of our founding fathers?
The founders themselves had a simple idea of what the Taraba Dream is. They wanted a state carved out of the old Gongola State where numerous tribes and tendencies would live as one in peace and prosperity. They hoped that the state would harness its abundant human and natural resources to become one of most vibrant states on the map.
Was their labour in vain? Are they shaking their heads now in regret? Should they have bothered with the agitation for a new state? Indeed should Taraba have been created at all? To start with the last poser, yes there was the need to have Taraba. Coming from a history that consigned most of what is the state today to bondage and underdevelopment, the citizens from these parts earnestly yearned for freedom. Ravaged by domination of all kinds of higher forces in the defunct North East and Benue Plateau through to old Gongola, this swathe of arable land, abundant mineral deposits and some of the finest brains was praying to be free from shackles. Defunct Gongola State was perhaps the most tortuous of the subjugations. Who can forget the tribulations of having to travel the long road to Yola for anything, everything?
What about the fact that civil servants were unofficially mandated to understand Fulfulde as the ultimate language of government business at the headquarters? What about skewed employment and promotion opportunities? What about the fear that Gongola was too big for equitable distribution of development? Yes, everyone wanted a ‘Taraxit’ of some sort at the time. And freedom came on the 27th day of August, 25 years ago when the then military leader, General Ibrahim Babangida created Taraba State. Since then successive regimes have worked to establish it as a viable entity within a very competitive polity. While the state isn’t competing with Lagos and Kano states for instance, it is daily pitted against states that were created at the same time. That’s reasonable as far as peer review mechanism go. Has the state been able to match its peers’ records? Or have we remained stagnant? While some feel we have advanced well, others feel we could have done better. It is a discourse that should dominate the airwaves this week. But history has been kind to Taraba.
Apart from the military aberrations at various times, three civilian governors’ names stand out in the annals of the state: Rev. Jolly Nyame, Pharmacist Danbaba Danfulani Suntai and Arch. Darius Dickson Ishaku. Nyame, unarguably had the longest reign of the trio. And while he has his stern critics, Nyame actually did his best for the fledging state. He inherited a Taraba that saw the activities of military adventurers who really couldn’t have cared a hoot about their new posts. They ruled as conquerors and not as patriotic citizens. It was Nyame’s job therefore to institutionalise democracy in the young state. He himself needed some training in that regard but there he was, trying to chart the foundation and the fate of a people.
There is a sense in which the Nyame template (in all its good and bad effect) is still very much in use. Some of the team he assembled in those shaky years are still active players in the state’s fortune or misfortune. To Nyame’s credit goes the airport, stadium, hospitals, schools and state-owned hotels among his modest effort at early development. Nyame’s successor, Danbaba Suntai, had to battle with the long shadow of his former boss. Suntai also had to pick up bills for some of the projects Nyame ambitiously began without paying for. Suntai’s major contribution to Taraba’s chequered history is in redefining the rules of engagement. Under him, the old Nyame template got revised, effectively moving the state from a traditional one to a modern sphere. Suntai dealt a blow on mediocrity, divisive tendencies and archaic way of thinking. He built roads to connect people with opportunities. He emphasised handwork and decency as a major component of statecraft. May be Suntai would have done more were it not his near fatal crash that threw the state into turmoil.
It is however the current governor, Darius Ishaku, who appears to be well suited to transform the state in radical ways. If Nyame was an accidental governor and if Suntai was a short lived one, Darius came prepared for the job. He has been minister in three ministries. Nyame didn’t do much schooling and Suntai was a pharmacist but Darius is a well known academic in architecture. He therefore comes to the job with sterling credentials. Besides, he comes at a challenging time when both the global and national economy are experiencing an economic melt down. Again, while both Nyame and Suntai were governors in the era of boom, Darius is the bust era governor with all its possibilities and limitations. What that means therefore is he must prioritise, cut cost, reduce unnecessary over heads and focus on areas that would get him a place in the hall of fame.
He is already doing that. With the catch phrase of rescue mission, Darius is practically breaking with the past in more profound ways. He seems to have shifted the state into a new gear of greater peace amidst turmoil and more fundamental changes in uncertain times. With paucity of funds, he has narrowed expenses, targeting the higher levers of the economy: agriculture, solid minerals, tourism. The road networks have continued. The airport which started as paper work and unfinished projects in the last regimes is now a reality. With three flights weekly, more people find the state conducive for investment. The digitisation of the media outfits in Taraba means that Darius is rolling away two decades of obsolete equipment and engrafting the state into modern times. As far as history is concerned, Taraba State couldn’t have wished for a better governor at a time like this.
And as citizens reflect in this year of jubilee, it is pertinent to note that growth is not really the work of one single individual. It is the product of collective effort. The Taraba of our founding fathers dream is still possible. It is a dream of over two million souls living on one of the most blessed patch on the surface of earth. It is the dream of our ancestors in great ancient kingdoms bounded by even greater mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, streams and wildlife. This is greater than all of us put together living or dead. The Taraba dream is still alive and getting reborn everyday. At 25 years of age, Governor Darius Ishaku is saddled with this epochal duty to steer the ship to a shore of prosperity, peace and more progress. It is a job that must be done and can be done by all of us.
Emmanuel Bello
a former commissioner of information, contributed this piece from Abuja.
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