Insecurity, which has bedevilled Taraba for many years has continued to affect the peace of the state. Before banditry and kidnapping became a part of the state’s challenges, the state was notorious for tribal and religious crises, which negatively affected its development. Daily Trust Saturday highlights some of the challenges before Governor Kefas.
Insecurity is one of the many challenges Governor Agbu Kefas needs to address. He also needs to urgently tackle disunity among the people of the state. Taraba has eighty different tribes, which are multi religious. In the state, it is common to see members of the same family practising different religions and many of them lived in harmony, but today, there is division among communities where peace once reigned for many years.
Kefas acknowledged this fact in his address during a reception organised in his honour in Jalingo before the general elections, saying, “Most families in Taraba State have both Christians and Muslims and that should serve as a source of unity among various ethnic groups.
In his speech shortly after he was sworn in as the new governor of the state, Kefas promised to do his best to unite the people, tackle insecurity and provide the much needed infrastructural development.
Reacting, Mr James Bulus, one the political observers in the state, advised the new government to depart from what the immediate past administration of Darius Ishaku did in terms of imbalanced employment and how he handled sensitive issues in the state.
“Fairness and justice to all are necessary in running any administration,” Bulus said. He accused politicians and the elite in the state for causing division among the people for personal gains.
A politician in the state, Saidu Ibrahim said, “The slogan of ‘give me peace and l give you development’ used by former Governor Ishaku was a gimmick to divert the attention of the people.”
He alleged that Ishaku used a divide-and-rule tactic to run his administration, which further compounded division and mistrust among the people of the state.
“Today, Ishaku has packed out of the state and neither his wife nor children stay in Taraba, now, it is the people he divided that would suffer the consequences of his action,” he said.
He further alleged that the local government system in Taraba was almost grounded by the administration of former Governor Ishaku as council areas were not allowed to use their funds, provided through the federation account, to carry out their functions as enshrined in the constitution.
Our correspondent gathered that members of staff of local government councils are owed salaries of many months, a situation that killed their morale.
A staff member of one the local government councils who would not want his name mentioned alleged that the state government under Darius Ishaku collected loans running into billions of naira from commercial banks in the name of council areas, apart from controlling funds released from the monthly federation account for the 16 councils.
“Funds released from the monthly federation account for local government areas in this state were controlled by the state government through the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
“Council workers were rendered redundant because they didn’t have schedules. And most council secretariats were in a shambles as offices operated without furniture and working materials,” he alleged.
Another council staff who did not want his name mentioned told Daily Trust Saturday that under the Ishaku administration, only Jalingo Local Government and two others could carry out few but not capital- intensive projects because of lack of direct access to their monthly allocations from the federation account.
“Darius Ishaku killed the local government system because of his selfish interest, so Governor Kefas should revive it by allowing them to function because of its importance to people at the grassroots,” he said.
He also alleged that the state civil service was neglected under the Ishaku administration as running costs were not provided to many ministries, a situation that hampered effective services.
A visit to the state secretariat in Jalingo indicated that there is an urgent need to provide access roads and drainages in the city.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that each time it rains, most parts of the state capital is flooded because of the absence of good roads and drainages. For example, the road from 6 Bridget, which passes through the state House of Assembly complex, and the Ministry of Agriculture road are usually flooded whenever it rains.
A resident of Jalingo, Nuhu Adamu, said that throughout his eight years in office, former Governor Ishaku did not deem it necessary to construct roads or drainages in parts of Jalingo he did not consider dear to him, for whatever reason.
“We have seen how Ishaku constructed roads and drainages in selected areas he considered favourable to him and neglected others,” he said.
Adamu said the new administration of Governor Kefas should address this imbalance of projects, especially roads and drainages in Jalingo town.
He also said rural areas should be opened up to enable movement of goods and services.
“Road projects embarked upon by the Ishaku administration at Yorro, Yarima, Gassol town, Tsokundi in Wukari, Maraba, Baissa, Abong and Panmanga-Dakka roads, which were not fully completed, should be completed in good time,” he added.
Findings revealed that some of these road projects were funded through huge loans, which the new administration is expected to offset.
Residents said there was the need to open up more areas at Zing, Bali, Gassol, Donga, Wukari and Sardaauna.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that agriculture, solid minerals, tourism and forest resources are sources of revenue for the state, but the absence of good road network in rural areas is a hindrance to tapping these potentials.
Similarly, in Taraba State, only two towns in the whole of a senatorial zone are connected to the national grid. The towns enjoying electricity from the national grid are only Mutumbiyu in Gassol and Suntai in Bali local government areas. The rest parts of Gassol, Bali, Kurmi Gashaka and Sardaauna local government areas are yet to be connected to the national grid.
Businesses in these areas, including banking, as well as academic activities, are run by generating plants, which is very costly and also hampers industrialization.
There are also potentials for agro-allied industries in these areas because of agricultural produce, such as paddy rice, maize, fruits, cocoa, coffee, timber, cassava, soyabeans, among others.
On potentials for tourism, the Gashaka-Gumti National Park in the Mambilla Plateau is world class, but to harness the potentials, there is the need for good roads and adequate security as the activities of bandits and other criminal elements make journeys and farming very dangerous in many parts of the state. This calls for urgent collaboration between the government and security agencies.
“Funds and logistics support should be given to security agents, as well as vigilantes and hunters to fight bandits and other criminals in the state,” a farmer, Bello Saidu said.
The new governor also needs to look at the burden of unpaid gratuity for retired civil servants and local government workers, which the past administration could not pay.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that hundreds of retired primary school teachers, state civil servants and local government council workers are yet to be enrolled for pension, years after their retirement.
According to the Taraba State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the state government owed retired civil servants over N22 billion gratuity arrears.
“The new governor should also find a way of reducing the gratuity level by allocating fund monthly to pay retired workers,” a retired civil servant, Rabiu Sule said.
