Gov. Ishaku: Mambilla Dam Will Do the Magic for N’East Economy

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has offered a solution to the lingering problem of underdevelopment in the North East region. He says completing the Mambilla Hydro power dam has the capacity to revamp the fortune of the region. 

 

Governor Ishaku said this while responding to questions from visiting editors. He said that the North East region would continue in backwardness if the issue of energy and education is not promptly confronted.

 

He said, “my background as a minister in the power sector has thought me a lot. I discovered by experience that all talks about development doesn’t make sense when there is no electricity. All talks about development is near nonsense without power. The success of this interview, for instance, now is because there is power and we are comfortable here. Or else the atmosphere wouldn’t have been conducive. When I became governor, I called people at the power ministry.

 

I asked them to generally increase the light in Taraba state. They said how many megawatts do I want and I said about 8mw. But they ended up giving me 18mw. Truth is that I had built good will while there because I promoted many of the qualified staff who had been waiting for their promotion. They were more than willing to support my dreams of a state with a better output of electricity.

 

So we now enjoy this output here and it is changing the ways Taraba state economy is developing. I believe that the secret to the over all success of the region lies in that project somewhere not far from here: the Mambilla hydro power dam. I’m urging that work be expedited on it. This dam can generate 3,500 megawatts of power. That would boost our economy and also add to the wattage of the nation.”

 

On education, Gov. Ishaku pointed that educating the girl child is another way out of the crisis of development in the region. He said, “when you educate a girl, you educate a nation. In Taraba state, we are really serious about this and have seen tremendous improvement on how the numbers are getting better in this direction.”

 

The governor further noted that himself and the other governors of the North East region are constantly reviewing how best to harness the natural resources of the region to improve lives.