Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku has said that his administration is poised to turn at least one million persons into millionaires in the state before the end of his second tenure in 2023, as part of his deliberate efforts to rid the state of “unnecessary” crisis.
Governor Ishaku who stated this during an interactive session with journalists in his office said the strategy was born out of the fact that it is only when people have nothing to lose that they are quick to anger and even eager to go to war and destroy the little others have.
The governor noted that the state is blessed with enormous potentials in agriculture and the administration has already put in place measures to ensure that people are able to explore the potentials to the fullest and create staggering wealth for themselves.
“Do you notice that rich people don’t quarrel? That is because they know they have a lot to lose. And so they usually explore every opportunity to settle their differences amicably. It is people who have nothing to lose, the poor and wretched people that are so quick to anger and ready to go to war at the slightest provocation because they have nothing to lose.
“That is why we are determined and have already come up with a clear roadmap that will make at least a million persons Millionaires in the state before 2023 and you will see for yourself that all these lingering crisis will stop. As we speak, arrangement is on ground for the importation of over a thousand tillers for distribution to farmers. We started that and is already yielding good results. Remarkably, we have enough yam in Taraba to feed the nation. People come in here, buy out yam, take it elsewhere and export it to the international market and are making good money from it. We will empower our people to get value for what they are producing. Our skills acquisition program for youth and women is also turning in very good results and people are already becoming self reliant and employers of labour. We will encourage them as best we can so that they will grow even more.
“We have the highest concentration of cattle in the state but because we were deploying the right practices, much has not come out of these. As we speak, we are already preparing a model ranch and livestock school. Arrangement is also on ground to bring in a special breed of cattle that produces ten times more milk than the breed we have. So many people can turn Millionaires from the sales of milk alone. I assure you that before long, we will have runways here where beef will to taken to Lagos and other big cities on a daily basis. These are avenue for our people to tap more from what they already know and are involved in but more profitably” Ishaku said.
The governor also assured that with the ongoing road projects across the state, it will become easier for investors to access areas that were hitherto hard to reach such as Kurmi where Cocoa, Plantain, palm cannel, ogbono and other farm produce are churned out in Mass quantities. All these are deliberate efforts to rid our people of poverty that often precipitates crisis.
He noted with what the administration has achieved in the areas of education, health, provision of portable water and others, “it is clear that we have set the ground to achieve this result also and we will do it because we have the capacity to achieve anything we are determined to”.
In the picture: Gov Ishaku, Deputy Haruna Mannu, Speaker Kunini with officials of the NUJ and Correspondent Chapel of the NUJ
