From Nahum Sule, Jalingo
Taraba State Governor, Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku has enjoined all Tarabans to spend more time to pray for the actualisation o f the Mambilla power project planned to be sited in Mambilla, Sarduana Local Government Area.
Ishaku made this call while addressing a group of over one thousand people from the Mambilla Plateau who paid him a thank you visit at Government House, Jalingo on Tuesday evening.
Gov 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 people 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.
According to him, 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 further stressed that, 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 was 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.
Also speaking during the visit, Dr Abubakar Zubairu, the spokesman for the group, said the visit was in appreciation of the special attention Mambilla has received under the Ishaku administration.
