Mambilla People to Gov. Ishaku:

 'Give Us Higher Institution, Complete Gembu Township Road'

 

Thousands of People of Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna Local Government who visited Taraba State Governor, Arch Dairus Dickson Ishaku on a Thank you visit in Jalingo have demanded for the establishment of tertiary institutions on the Mambilla Plateau and completions of Gembu township road which was initiated by his administration but halted due to the rainy nature of the area.

 

Speaking during the visit, Dr Abubakar Zubairu, the spokesman for the group, said although the visit was in appreciation of the special attention Mambilla has received under the Ishaku administration, he however solicited for more appointments, employment and empowerment of Mambilla people by his administration.

 

"Permit us to also use this medium to remind His Excellency about the Gembu township road which was initiated by this administration but halted due to the rainy nature of the area and other factors. 

We therefore plead that the government  may wish to remobilize contractors back to site in order to complete the good work started.

 

"Also, it may interest to know that Sardauna Local government area being one of the largest in the country has no single tertiary institution located there, our people suffer a great deal traveling all the way from Gembu to Bali, Jalingo and other places in a bit to access higher education, this has forced some of our youths to abandoned their education immediately after secondary school.

"We want to plead that government should look into this and locate at least one tertiary institution on the Plateau to help reduce some of these tendencies and by so doing it will have fulfiled one of the promises made by Sir Ahmadu Bello which was made several years ago," he said at the meeting.

 

 Zubairu said the  Mambilla people are with the only local government in the entire region with three state constituencies and the dominant in all the constituencies which no doubt makes them a determining factor in Taraba politics.

 

 

Meanwhile Governor Ishaku has enjoined all Tarabans to spend more time to pray for the actualization of the Mambilla power project sited in Mambilla.

 Ishaku said the power project is not only the hope for stability in electricity power generation in Nigeria but a source of hope for the economic transformation of Taraba State and the Mambilla Plateau in particular.

"If Mambilla power project is executed, Taraba and the Mambilla will never be the same again. The social and economic lives of the people will be transformed"' he said.

He, therefore, advised the people not to forget to pray for the project.

Gov Ishaku thanked the Mambilla people for coming to thank him for what his administration has done so far in their towns and communities and said he feels encouraged by their sense of appreciation.

He said Mambilla occupies a special place in his heart and that everything he has done for the area is a product of his love for the people of Mambilla.

He recalled the numerous communal crises that occurred in the area in the past and noted that the peace being enjoyed there today has vindicated his administration as fair-minded and committed to the welfare of the people.

He said against all odds and protests by other sections of the state, he had to dole out over 300 million Naira to compensate those who lost people and properties to the crises in Mambilla. This gesture, he noted, is part of the reason peace achieved in the area has endured.

He expressed happiness over the role being played in the economic lives of the Mambilla people by the tea industry that was revived by his administration. The company which has become the source of financial dependence directly and indirectly for over 4000 people in Sardauna LGA is today being profitably managed and, for the first time in 40 years, has been able to pay dividends.

Ishaku noted that one of his happiest days as governor was the day he commissioned newly acquired production machines for the tea company.