BEYOND POLITICS OF LG COUNCIL TOURS

Tarabans present their wish list to Governor Darius Ishaku, writes

The setting was perfect. And so was the timing. The people were adequately prepared for the visit and the visitor, Governor Darius Ishaku, chose the most appropriate period for the visit – the Easter holiday period. The drummers, the singers and the dancers came out in their full regalia to give Ishaku a befitting reception and to put him in the best of mood for each day of the visit and stakeholders meeting. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and members poured into the various arenas of the event in Zing, Karim Lamido and Ardo-Kola to join what turned out to be a carnival cum meeting of Tarabans at the grassroots.

For Governor Ishaku, it was a “thank you” and “meet the people” visit, but for the people, it was an opportunity to express appreciation for what the government has achieved in the first two years of its first tenure despite the obvious encumbrances posed by several litigations over the governorship elections of April 2015 and poor state of finances of the government. It was also an opportunity for them to present their shopping list of democratic dividends directly to the number one citizen of the state and, perhaps, get an acknowledgement, if not approval, for them.

In Zing, the starting point for the three-day visit to the Southern Senatorial zone, party stakeholders from Yorro Local Government Council joined their counterparts from the host council area to welcome the governor. The major speakers included council chairmen and party leaders who all praised Governor Ishaku for making water supply and electricity stable through the provision of transformers in Yakoko, Mokin, Dinding, Kakula and Yukwa and for improving the condition of rural roads. They spoke of their determination to improve their personal income which they said can only be achieved if rural roads were better to facilitate movement of farm produce to the major markets in the council areas. It was as if the speakers had advanced knowledge of what the governor had in stock for them for that was part of the package which the governor planned to unfold.

Governor Ishaku said his administration was planning a comprehensive rehabilitation of rural roads in the area, particularly, those leading to major markets such as Lama and Yakoko. He told them that already, elaborate survey work had been done on the roads and the grading and reconstruction of the roads will soon start. It was also an opportunity to solicit the support of the people for the sustenance of peace which his administration had worked very hard to achieve for the state. He urged them to watch out for strangers on a mission to cause crisis and conflict in their communities and to seek the intervention of security agencies always in such cases. He advised the people against taking the laws into their own hands.

Karim Lamido and Lau Council areas took their turn next and the meeting point was Karim town. The shopping list presented to Governor Ishaku was not surprising. The major roads leading to the headquarters of the council areas featured prominently. The roads are, indeed, in very bad state and Governor Ishaku spared no words in expressing his sympathy. The people also requested for a bridge to be constructed across Benue at Lau River. Ishaku promised that his administration will soon start the reconstruction of the road but would not make any promise on the request for a bridge. And he took time out to explain that position. He said he was aware of the opinion of the people, rightly or wrongly, that politicians were liars but noted emphatically that he does not belong to that group of politicians. He would rather tell the truth, no matter how unpalatable it may taste. He said a bridge across Lau River is certainly beyond the financial scope of the present administration and pleaded with the people for understanding.

Governor Ishaku whose administration has already done a lot in the provision of water through the sinking of 100 boreholes in rural communities across the state, promised to do more. He said 150 more boreholes were on the cards and they would be evenly distributed among the three Senatorial zones of the state.

Danladi Usman

Lau and Karim Lamido are major rice producing areas in the state. In fact, the famous dry season rice farm centres supported by the Darius Ishaku administration are located in Karim Lamido. The people were extremely happy with the dry season farming of rice which they said yielded thrice more than that grown during the rainy season and asked for an increase in land allocation to increase production. Ishaku visited the rice farms and assured the farmers of government’s support for them to increase production. He said Taraba State has the potential to produce more than 10 million tonnes of rice which is the annual requirement of the country with the support of government. Other major rice producing areas in the state, in addition to Karim Lamido and Lau, are Gassol, Ardo-Kola, Ibi, Wukari and Takum. Ishaku assured that his government will not hold anything back in the effort to put the state on the global map of rice producers in a few years from now.

So far, government has assisted rice farmers through the provision of inputs which include improved seedlings. It has also helped in linking them to major rice buyers in and outside the country for them to get maximum profits for their efforts. Ishaku disclosed at the meeting that a major rice merchant from Kenya is soon to start buying paddy rice from farmers in the state for processing. Government has acquired for distribution to farmers hybrid seeds of Sesame seeds, soya beans, cassava and soya beans. He said cassava production will be specially boosted because the cassava processing industry in the state is to be revived soon. He informed the people that since assumption of office he has successfully revived five out of the 25 industries that were in comatose at that time.

In Ardo-Kola where the people of Jalingo Council area also joined for the stakeholders meeting, Governor Ishaku said his mission was primarily to thank the people for their support and loyalty in the governorship election of 2015 and throughout the duration of the court cases that trailed his victory. He told the audience that he appreciates their support demonstrated through massive votes he won in the election, noting that the best time to express his appreciation is now that he had won all the court cases brought against his victory at the polls. He emphasised further that he was there to meet the people and interface with them with the aim of presenting his score card and to also hear from them their impression of his stewardship as well as their own expectations.

Alhaji Sule Labaran who spoke for the stakeholders from Jalingo thanked Governor Ishaku for the gigantic water projects, the Green House farm project, the renewal and revival of the Jalingo Airport, the construction of new roads and reconditioning of bad roads in the city as well as the street lights that have turned the city into a beauty to behold at night. He called for more rural roads and an improvement in the sanitary condition of the main abattoir in the city. Governor Ishaku said his administration will even go a step further on the request on the abattoir. He said the abandoned main abattoir project in the city will be completed by his administration.

Ardo-Kola was also the venue for the dispatch of tough political messages to backsliding party members. The message was directed at stakeholders from Jalingo whose support for the PDP had always wavered during elections. They were reminded by Victor Bala, Taraba State chairman of the party, to re-examine their relationship with the party in the state. He said Jalingo has reaped a lot of political dividends from the party even when the support for the party is never very impressive. He urged the council chapters of the party that could not garner adequate votes for the party in 2015 to “sit up” now because 2019 elections are already approaching fast.

The meeting was Governor’s Darius Ishaku’s best opportunity of interacting with political stakeholders in Taraba State since the 2015 governorship election. It came on the heels of the April 7, 2017 Supreme Court dismissal of the last of the series of litigations over the popular electoral victory of Ishaku in that election. Usman wrote from Jalingo