Governor Ishaku: A Sun Is Rising In The North-East

The farthest states from Lagos and Abuja are frequently under-reported. Unless a disaster occurs, in Zamfara, Nasarawa, Yobe or Adamawa, they might as well not exist as far as the leading Nigerian media houses are concerned. 

Borno State jumped to the front pages on account of Boko Haram and as the war is winding down, news from the state are now tucked into the middle pages – if at all they get published. Media awards invariably go to the Governors of Lagos, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta states and once in a while to those close to Lagos.

There is a strong correlation between our perception of excellence in governance and the revenue the state generates annually. For some reason hard to understand, there seems to be a collective perception that the Governor of Nassarawa or Ebonyi State cannot possibly be providing excellent leadership to his people simply because the state is poorer by comparison with the big seven – Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Kano and Kaduna.

Yet, quietly, some state governors in the states we choose to ignore are running governments that might be more cost-effective than even some of the biggest which are more financially endowed.

Architect Darius Dickson Ishaku, FNIA, of Taraba State is one of them and it was by accident that we met and he bitterly raised the issue of neglect of the smaller and poorer states by the media, especially his own. He was absolutely right. Perhaps the biggest news report to come out of Taraba State in the last ten years was about the former Governor who crashed his self-piloted aircraft. Disaster again. It is quite possible that if one assembled ten thousand Nigerians from all the states, except Taraba and ask who Darius Ishaku is, none might provide the correct answer. Yet, by contrast to those who left the state and themselves in ruins, this is the first Governor to have launched a RESCUE AGENDA for a state that was moribund when he came to the helm of affairs last year.

RESCUE AGENDA

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” Those were the words carved on stone for all leaders of people by Yogi Bera, an American comedian in the 1970s. So, to avoid mindless activities the newly-elected Governor Darius Dixon Ishaku, a Felloe of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, FNIA, in 2015 armed himself with a road map called

THE RESCUE AGENDA.
Only a few aspects of the RESCUE AGENDA can be touched upon here, but, the government of Taraba State had taken this as the guinding principles of the administration. In other words, this is not a government flying blind, it has a compass.

Two components of the agenda are worthy of mention and notice:

The purpose of our Rescue Agenda is to restore Taraba State to a peaceful and secured state; to speedily unite the diverse people of Taraba State; and to urgently transform the state in order to guarantee its sovereignty and sustainability, and ensure the wellbeing of its citizens.

The Goal of our Rescue Agenda is to unearth all economic natural resources and unlock every requisite human potential in Taraba State for an inclusive and accelerated socio-economic growth and development.

To those who might have heard such lofty promises elsewhere before, without fulfillment, these might sound like one of those political promises. But, Taraba had been devoid of promises to which leaders can be held. This is the first time the governor of that state would venture to commit himself so publicly. That is the significant difference.

NEW LEADERS EMERGING IN THE NORTH 

Ishaku represents a new and fresh face of Northern leadership, which includes people like Governor Dankwabo of Gombe State, next door. While Dickson is a professional architect, his neighbour is a professional accountant and together they have brought professionalism to the management of public affairs.

Talking to Ishaku, one could be forgiven for wondering if the man in front of you is not talking as the Managing Director of Shell or First Bank. The sense of purpose is palpable and the thought lurking in one’s mind is: where were people like these since 1999 to actually move Nigeria forward? The reader would forgive me for disclosing that I had spent some part of my life in Taraba when it was part of Gongola State.

Taraba was created when the former Adamawa province was sliced out of Gongola and the state which emerged was left destitute of virtually all amenities which made life worth living. Operating out of Yola, in the 1980, official trips to Zil, Jalingo, Mutum Biu, Zakin Biam, Wukari, Takum and most of all Gembu were absolute tortures. One customer Danjuma Tsokwas, a distributor of Peugeots and beer in Yola and Wukari was the main reason for making those trips. It was hell. The return to civil rule in 1999 and the rising revenue allocation provided an opportunity to rapidly develop Taraba – given its numerous potentials.

But, for the most part it was opportunity lost. Every Governor before Ishaku had been enmeshed in scandal; funds were stolen; over-inflated contracts were awarded to cronies; contracts were awarded, fees paid and not executed; etc. Every device known to Nigerians was employed to rob a state which, in July 2006, collected N3.4 billion, Delta took home N18.2 billion and Rivers walked away with N23.5 billion.

Today, the N3.4 billion allocated to Taraba, ten years ago, appears like a fairy tale since the state Ishaku inherited was already neck deep in debt and the monthly allocations had tumbled to N2.2 billion by January this year and is even less now. It requires a stout-hearted person, sharply focused, and persistent to lead the state at this time and Taraba appears to have the man.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

The first question posed to him was all-encompassing, on account of time constraint. What are the major achievements of his administration since it started work on May 29, 2016? He pointed to several but, the project which would provide the reader with an idea of how the man’s mind works is the 400 MEGAWATTS KASHIMBILA DAM. Though a Federal project but, it was Ishaku who got Jonathan to approve it when he was Minister of State for Power.

By Dele Sobowale

25 Years On, Darius Shifts Taraba Into Next Gear

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.