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Prayers, Thoughts For Governor Ishaku at 67th birthday


Iliyasu Gadu

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku the ''rescue captain'' of Taraba turned sixty-seven years on Friday 30th of July, 2020.

It is an occasion worthy of celebration and thanksgiving for the eventful life of the professional Architect who it has pleased God to hand over the affairs of our dear state.

Regardless of what we may feel about his administration of the state, we joined Tarabans of all works of life to felicitate with our Governor and to thank God for preserving his life.

On this occasion we must like all humans join in the joyous celebration with emphasis more on wishing him well and praying to God to guide him aright so that in the remaining years of his administration, Tarabans would have more to celebrate about him than lament.

There are many in the state that will see the occasion as not worth celebrating. They will say that at least the Governor has something to cheer about while they have to live with the excruciating pains of daily life. Some will even think the occasion a waste of scarce public resources on an administration that has not touched on the lives of Tarabans positively as expected.

In this category are no doubt those owed salaries and remunerations for months. They will be indifferent to the occasion and dismiss it with utter contempt and disgust that the Governor has something to celebrate while they don't.

Other sets of Tarabans will look upon the occasion with mixed feelings. Yes they will say that Governor Ishaku has not impacted positively in their lives as he should. But they will also say that as our Governor, leader and father of the state we should nevertheless celebrate him just for his day. They will say that in doing this perhaps the positive vibes will spread round and bring a much needed new lease of life in the state.

In the mix of course are those that will celebrate the occasion with gusto. They will feel that an occasion as this calls not for belly aching but unbridled joy. They will say that the Governor deserves the peace and happiness of this very special day in his life which he first made his entry into the world. To have chalked up this number of years with all the ups and downs he has faced and triumphed over them, all glory must be given to God joyfully and thankfully.

For all practical purposes despite the feelings they may harbour about the Governor Ishaku administration, many Tarabans   wished him well and use the occasion to pray to God for a positive turn of events in the state. The humanity in them overtake their misgivings about the way things are in the state under Governor Ishaku. They would wish that just as the governor is has cause to celebrate, same should also happen in their lives.

This is especially important as the clock is winding down on the administration of Governor Ishaku.

Tarabans would earnestly want to point to something tangible that they have gained under the eight year tenure of Governor Ishaku.

Top of this wish list is a new lease of life accompanied with developments. Many are in deep frustration and despair. Governor Ishaku should use the occasion of his birthday as an auspicious moment to change this narrative of lament to one of hope and joy.

Another low hanging fruit here too is the payment of N3000 for employment forms by applicants into the vacant positions into the state civil service. This is another sore point which has not gone down well with both the applicants and their parents. This has not endeared Governor and his administration to majority of Tarabans. Where would young graduates who are unemployed get the money to pay? Is it even proper to ask prospective applicants who are going to help run the state machinery to pay the state? Is this not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul? And what is more only a fraction of the thousands who will apply will be eventually taken. Thousands more who may have been compelled to cough out the amount will definitely not make it. This will certainly add to the feeling of frustration and despair among Tarabans which will be directed at Governor Ishaku.

Leaders use their birthdays or momentous public occasions to declare amnesty to prisoners, celebrate with the less privileged like orphans, physically challenged, the sick and those in the lower cadre of society. This is to demonstrate compassion and generate good will and togetherness.

Governor Ishaku, Taraba desperately needs amnesty from the litany of issues facing it currently. These include but not limited to material poverty, and slow pace of developmental projects in the state. We are lagging behind in many aspects of life be it education, infrastructure, health services and other critical areas of modern living.

Above all we lack unity of purpose as a people. We are deeply divided along religious and ethnic lines. This contrived difference exacerbated by our leaders is one of the fundamental reasons for the ills bevelling the state thereby preventing it from achieving its potentials.

As the leader and father of the state on the occasion of Governor Ishaku's birthday, Tarabans want him to lead us to find that elusive unity of purpose that has become the bane of our state. We are all your subjects and require that in the interest of the general development of the state, we should all work together.

While joining fellow Tarabans in celebrating the Governor Ishaku's  67th anniversary, we pray this occasion should be the beginning of the turnaround of fortunes for the better in our dear state of Taraba. We desperately need a new lease of life in the state.

Here is wishing my Tamti and his family all the positive things of life on this glorious occasion of his 67th birthday.

Shidon ku yau gbama ki buso bu, ku sa albarka amin.

 

 

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