By Danladi Yaro.
Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku, the governor of
Taraba State, is no stranger to the
technicalities of electricity power generation
and distribution. He routinely dealt with those
details as minister of power in the immediate
past federal administration of President
Goodluck Jonathan. In that position, Ishaku
co-ordinated the activities that eventually led
to the creation of the present dispensation of
active private sector participation in
electricity power distribution in the country.
He came out of that job also well grounded in
the knowledge of the economic benefits of
stable power and with the resolve to use that
experience, whenever he had the opportunity
to serve his people, as key for unlocking the
huge potentials of the state, to create
employment opportunities and raise the
standards of living of the people. It is,
therefore, no surprise that the provision of
electricity in urban and rural communities in
Taraba State is today a priority of the Ishaku
administration.
One of the first things Ishaku did on
assumption of office as governor was to
identify existing but broken or low performing
power generating facilities in the state,
assess their state of functionality and
determine how they can be immediately put
to full and effective service of the people.
That exercise has paid off very handsomely.
It has led to the restoration of electricity
power supply in many towns and
communities in Taraba State. But it took not
a small amount of courage and commitment
on the part of a government that was not
only new but was constrained by the long
litigation process over the gubernatorial
election result in the state and also
hamstrung by a treasury that had been
plundered and emptied.
One of the communities that benefitted from
this new and positive attitude of the
government in electric power delivery is the
tea producing Kakara community in the
Sarduana Local Council Area of the state.
In August last year, a few months after his
election victory, Ishaku commissioned the
small but very vital Tunga Dam hydropower
project which now provides uninterrupted
power to the tea factory in Kakara and
neighboring communities.




The commissioning was a product of a
political will which previous administrations in
the state lacked and which almost crippled
the project. Ishaku’s intervention came at the
time the European Union, EU, which provided
the turbines for the project was threatening
to dismantle them and take them to Ghana
because of the delay in putting the equipment
to use. The commissioning has saved the
project and provided succor for the people of
Kakara and other
The commissioning has saved the project and
provided succor for the people of Kakara and
other neighboring communities. The project is
today seen as a pathfinder for what the
nation’s stands to benefit from the bigger
Mambilla Hydro Electricity Dam Project that
is yet to start in terms of stability in
electricity. Ishaku has visited the Sardauna
Council area three times in less than one year
to sensitize and elicit the support of the
people for the bigger Mambilla project. He
has also been to Abuja several times to
discuss the project and to awaken the
appropriate federal authorities to the need to
start work on this very important but long
neglected electricity power generating project.
Ishaku has visited the Sardauna Council area
three times in less than one year to sensitize
and elicit the support of the people for the
bigger Mambilla project. He has also been to
Abuja several times to discuss the project
and to awaken the appropriate federal
authorities to the need to start work on this
very important but long neglected electricity
power generating project.
Ishaku’s intervention came at the time the
European Union, EU, which provided the
turbines for the project was threatening to
dismantle them and take them to Ghana
because of the delay in putting the equipment
to use. The commissioning has saved the
project and provided succor for the people of
Kakara