It is said, leaders are born not made. The governor
while addressing Taraba State Youth in His Office
reiterated his commitment in rescuing Taraba State
from the challenges the state is facing today and has
promised to bring peace and a cordial working
relationship between the three tiers of
government.
Highlighting his promises, the governor has shown
his desire to revive and bring to live every dead
project in all the ministries, departments and
parastatals as he has done when he was a minister.
He said that “ when I assumed office as a minister I
met a lot of dead projects”, so much that my staff
doubted if it is going to work. They were saying “sir, it
is unfortunate that you came into office at this time
that almost everything is dead”.
But as a veteran politician, I said, “if they are dead
they can be resurrected back to life”. What I did was
to set the ball rolling and delegated the work to
individuals with proper supervision. To their
greatest surprise, all the dead projects were brought
back to life. I also initiated new ones using the
leadership qualities that God bestowed in me.
And I believe that with the same strategies I used to
succeed then, I can equally use the same and even
more to make sure that Tarabans breath in fresh air.
Revealing his plans, he said “here is another
opportunity for me to serve my people because God
has answered their prayers and brought me on a
rescue mission in Taraba State. Therefore, I pledge
my allegiance to God Almighty and to fellow
Tarabans to bring change in all the sector of the
government, starting from Security, Agriculture,
Education, Health, Tourism and Culture, Sports,
Infrastructure, Jobs creation, Rule of law and
Economic development”.
On the area of Security; His Excellency Governor
Dickson Darius Ishaku promised to boost the security
fund to optimise the success recorded so far. He said
his government will embark on the acquisition of the
latest advanced security communication technology
systems that will provide information, track and
monitor the daily activities of crime in the state to
reduce crime rate.
On Education; He promised to ensure that no child
is denied his/her right to education by providing
quality, accessible and healthy learning environment
to the people of Taraba state. Along with his
scholarship initiatives for tertiary institutions, he said
“ My Government will encourage the private
sector to partner with the Government as part of
their Cooperate Social responsibility (CSR) . I will
also inculcate skills acquisition programmes through
technical and vocational training to create jobs for
our unemployed youth”.
On Housing; He said his government will provide
affordable housing schemes through public-private
partnership (PPP) in other to increase the available
housing stock and also improve policies of home
ownership through Taraba home and savings .
On Agriculture; The governor stated his plans to
provide incentives for farmers to boost their
moral, and also make easy ways for farmers in the
state to have access to fertilizer on time. As the state
is blessed with natural resources, he will woo in
more investors into the state that will buy their farm
produce and also set up processing companies.
On Medical Care; He said, “I will introduce free
maternal Health Care Services in all our Hospitals
in the state and also improve the quality of primary
health care system and make it more accessible, I
will introduce emergency services in all the state
hospitals thereby reducing the over dependence on
our General Hospitals”.
On Tourism and Culture; He said, “I will give level
playing ground for our distinct and diverse Taraba
state Cultural Heritage Centres and youth through
utilizing our natural resources in the state as nature’s
gift to the Nation”.
On Transportation; He said, “I will improve the
current transport system in the state to ease
movement and also embark on road construction as
well as maintaining the existing ones”.
On Rules of Law; He said, “My Government will
ensure that all civil servants in the state uphold to the
rule of law. I will also ensure that civil service
commission will follow the laydown procedures in
the area of employment that will guarantee the right
of all Citizens. I will make sure that my people are
closer to government to enable closer interaction, for
accountability and transparency. I pledge my
commitment in ensuring peace and stability in the
state for good governance as no Government will
succeed without Peace”.
On Economy and Jobs; This government will
implement policies that will encourage the private
sector and woo investors so as to employ more
citizens. We will also Identify areas where there are
growth opportunities that the government will be
financing to further boost economic development
across Sectors and the Communities in the state.
He also planned to boost the internally generated
revenue by improving the collection.
In his concluding message he implored all the
citizens of Taraba state to be law abiding, tolerant to
one another, shun tribalism and learn to
accommodate one another irrespective of religion,
social, political and ethnic background. He further
thank the people of the state for their patience upon
hearing the first tribunal judgement and asked them
to believe in the coming appeal court judgement
because the law will take it course. No one will steal
their right and mandate.