It was the week of pleasant developments in Taraba State. The state moved away from the ugly, highly exaggerated and, in most cases, false stories about the Mambilla crisis to the positive side of issues relating to the future of the state. That dispensation of the good things was heralded by the visit to Government House Thursday July 6, by Alhaji Walil Jibril, eminent Fulani man and grand patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association. He had come into the state to ascertain the true state of things concerning the crisis. Some sections of the media had sought to project the crisis as inter-ethnic and inter-religious. After meeting with critical stakeholders on the crisis where he was briefed elaborately on the events leading to the crisis, he visited Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku and later addressed the media.
During his interaction with the press, Jibril said his visit to the state had been an eye-opener. He said the media reports that had sought to portray the crisis to have targetted the Fulani in Mambilla were wrong. He said the crisis was not ethnic, not religious and was not a case of ethnic cleansing but a communal crisis over land for farming and grazing. “The issue in dispute here is land. Among the Fulani in Mambilla, there are cattle breeders and farmers. Among the other Mambilla tribes, there are also cattle owners. So the dispute is about land which is required for farming and grazing on both sides but which has become inadequate because of population growth.”
Alhaji Jibril also dismissed suggestions in the media that the government didn’t do enough to restore peace to the communities and noted that such suggestions were unfair to the state Governor and all those who risked their lives to provide care for the victims. “Our findings have also shown that the government has done a lot and achieved a lot in providing care for the victims. Those making such allegations against the government only want to confuse the people and arouse negative sentiments that cannot help the situation,” he said. It was one of those few occasions when Governor Ishaku made no speech publicly but preferred others to do so. Walil, a leading Fulani personality, found the truth and publicly admitted the truth thus clearing every misgiving about the true nature of the Mambilla crisis.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017 was a major milestone for Taraba State. Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest individual and president of the Dangote Group, came visiting Governor Ishaku. He came with the good news about his investment drive in the state. He is investing Billions of Naira in Sugar production in Lau and in agriculture, particularly, in rice production. His visit came on the heels of a major decision taken by Ishaku about two months ago to pave the way for the sugar company which had been delayed for 13 years due to lack of political will on the part of previous administrations in the state, to take off.
At a reception for the business mogul in Government House, Governor Ishaku said he was happy that the project was taking off at last. He said given the reputation exhibited over the years by Dangote, there is no doubt that sugar will soon be exported from Taraba State. “The greatest aspect of what is about to happen in the state is that, the company will employ thousands of people from Taraba. I’m so happy because this is what we want. I will ensure that every obstacle on the way of the company’s success is removed.”
The Governor alluded to some of the crises that happened in the state and said most of them were due to idleness. “People who have serious things to do will not have time to quarrel or fight. Your coming into the state with this huge investment is a great development and I’m overwhelmed with joy”, he said. He told his guest that when he was coming in as Governor, he had his famous Green Book in hand which contained ideas of what he planned to do to transform the state. One of those things was to change the state from its civil service status to an economically viable and vibrant state. That transformation has been slowed down by the need to pay salaries regularly every month and after which there is hardly any resources left for other projects. But he said with the coming of Dangote, that transformation has started. “From today, Taraba starts moving from that status of a civil service state”, the Governor said.
Ishaku also further recounted his experience early in the life of his administration. He said when he came into office there was no water good for drinking. He had to provide it. He also had to ensure that salaries were paid regularly. The administration also had to fix some roads which, including Kona road. He said the remaining portion of that road leading to Lau would be done to make things easy for the workers in the new sugar company. He urged Dangote to regard Taraba as home and promised that all the encumbrances that had worked against the early take-off of the company would be removed.
Dangote who spoke earlier sympathised with the Governor and the people of the state on the Mambilla crisis and the death of Danbaba Suntai, former governor of the state. He announced a donation of 50 million Naira in aid of government efforts to rehabilitate victims. He said the visit was his second to Jalingo and it is intended “to show my seriousness about our investment in agriculture.” He said his company was on a mission to create jobs in the state through agriculture and thousands of such jobs will be created.” He said sugar is not the only thing of interest to his group in Taraba but rice production too. Taraba , he said, will be provided with one of the biggest rice mills in the country.
He said in four years, the company will produce 4.2 million tonnes of sugar and noted that the Lau Sugar Company will be run as evidence of the Dangote Group’s seriousness. He said he was in the state to assure the government and the people that the Taraba project will be a reality. “Thousands of people will be employed. We will also train a lot of people. Many will also be enriched. We will not only make money but invest it in more projects here.” He said the company will also be very alive to its corporate social responsibility roles. “We will not disappoint the people of the state as a company”, he assured.
On July 7, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankoso, former Governor of Kano State also came calling on Governor Ishaku. He was in the state to condole the Governor and the people of the state on the death of Danbaba Suntai, former governor and to sympathise with the state on the recent crisis in Mambilla. He urged the Governor not to allow that incident to dampen his enthusiasm to reposition the state for development but to continue to work for peace. Governor Ishaku thanked the former Kano State governor for the visit and described the late Danbaba Suntai as a humble person. He said Danbaba Suntain visited him three times while he was minister, an action he said was evidence of the late governor’s humility. Ishaku also condoled the former Governor, the government and people of Kano State on the recent death of Alhaji Maitama Sule, former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
