OPEN LETTER TO MY YAA AND GOVERNOR, HIS EXCELLENCY ARC. DARIUS DICKSON ISHAKU, PART 5. My Dear Yaa,

Tempus fugit is Latin phrase for 'time flies'. This somewhat captures the essence of this 5th open letter to you, in this closing days of your two term tenure as the Executive Governor of Taraba State. Today is exactly one month to your leaving office and Tarabans are looking forward to it with mixed feelings. To think that the journey that started in 2015 is now ending, as if it just started yesterday, is a testament to the assertion that time flies.

One undeniable fact is that there are some people that will miss your leadership style. For them, you have done well. I have even heard them use superlative adjectives to describe how well you have performed; in terms of employment, creation of chiefdoms and traditional councils, provision of infrastructure and social services, among other things. They may not be wrong.

 And then, there are those that are not sure whether you have done well or not. Their attitude is that no particular individual can finish the job of development and transformation. To them, you have come to do your bit and your successor will continue from where you stopped. They may not be wrong also.

Then again, there are those who are so dissatisfied with your performance, that they easily fly into fits of anger, at the mere mention of your name. They don't want to hear word that you have done anything worthwhile at all. To them, you are a colossal failure. I have heard them say yours is the worst administration in the annals of the State. As far as they are concerned, you have wasted 8 years of opportunity for progress and development. They may not be wrong too.

The judgement on your performance is predicated on where the assessor stands and the kind of impact your actions and inactions have brought to bear on their lives. This is why I deliberately abstained from agreeing or disagreeing completely with any of the 3 groups above.

Let me attempt to paint some scenarios here to better illustrate this point.

 If I am one of your appointees/associates or related one way or the other to your administration, I would easily belong to the first category. This is because I might have benefitted or been benefitting from some things that the average citizens did not have access to. It is not uncommon for me, therefore, to be arguing that you have performed in superlative terms. As chance will have it, this is the group that are closest to you and their voices tend to be sweet and louder to the ears, except if you had decided to go to extra lengths to verify the truth of their claims.

Secondly, if I am a civil servant, especially working in the State Civil Service and my salary at least has been flowing on a monthly basis, even if it had to be within the middle of the following month, and I live in relatively secured circumstances, I would be moved to say you are trying. Especially, when I see some projects like the 18 km Jalingo dual carriageway project, now nearing completion, I would plead with people to give you some credits for what you have done, even If I feel it is not enough. 

But, then again, if I am a primary school teacher, working in Monkin, Yorro LGA, earning a measly salary of N17,,000 a month, and my last salary alert says it is my emolument for the month of September, 2022 I will get red in the face anytime anyone tries to describe you as a working governor. You definitely cannot be, because your government is owing me 7 months salary, even as my work environment is full of dilapidated structures, that makes it generally hostile to learning. To compound this, there are no good roads, no standard health facility, no potable water in my community.. Sir, I really mean nothing in my community that gives the indication the there is a functional government at work. It has been just us and our fates in the hands of God all these years. You can then see the justification for the anger directed towards your administration.

Sir, I have not even attempted to paint the scenario with LG workers, retirees or TSU staff. Things are simply terrible with these set of our citizens. Let's not even talk of the unemployed, without any form of social safety nets in the past 8 years. Sadly, these categories of citizens are the farthest from you, and therefore, their voices were hardly heard. When I say farthest, I may not be speaking about physical distance, because they are plenty, even in our beloved hometown of Takum and in the neighborhoods of where you live in Jalingo. It is just that the level of interaction never favours them. You tend to listen more to your appointees and associates, who have not been giving you the true picture of things.

My Dear Governor, Sir, as we are wont to say in Nigerian parlance, like play, like play, 8 years don dey waka. Like I pointed out somewhere above, many people have already written your report card in the tablet of their hearts. To some it is good, to some it is fair and to yet the others it has been a harrowing season of leadership failure. What ever conclusions they have drawn concerning your administration's performance are what they will be bearing in mind for a long time to come. Some may actually take such feelings with them to their graves.

As I conclude this letter, let me also say that I have received some positive news about your recent release of funds for some ongoing projects to be completed. I even heard you have decided to extend the 18km Jalingo city dual carriageway by another 3 km afield on Yola and Wukari roads axis. I don't know if the remaining days are enough to complete the projects and have you commission them. But it is still a heartwarming news when was also told you will be commissioning it before May 29th.

Finally, I want to conclude this letter with one wish. I am hoping and praying that in the remaining 30 days, before you take a bow out of the stage, you will do more, beyond the physical projects, by showing empathy with the groups that have been hardest hit by some of your policies, especially on the pending salaries and gratuities, I appeal to you to pay primary schools teachers, LGA workers and TSU staff at least 3 months salaries as a parting gesture to them. I plead with you to pay retirees at least 30% of their entitlements in a similar gesture. I urge you to do this while it is still in your power to do this good. This would also help to ease the burden for the incoming administration.

Thank you, as usual, for your attention. Accept once again, the assurances of my highest respects and warm regards.

Yours Sincerely,

Kefas Sule

A Taraba Patriot.