GOVERNOR DANBABA SUNTAI - GOVERNOR OF TARABA STATE

GOVERNOR DANBABA SUNTAI - GOVERNOR OF TARABA STATE Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State was born on the 30th of June 1961 at Suntai Town in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State. After his primary education, he attended Federal Government College, Kano from 1975 to 1980. After a spell at the School of Basic Studies, ABU, Zaria in 1980 to 1981, he gained admission into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he read Pharmacy and graduated in 1984. Apart from his professional training in Zaria, he attended the West African Training Course on Drugs Dependence at the University of Benin in 1998 which he followed up with another Training Course on Hospital Pharmacy Management at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka the same year.
On graduation in 1984, he did his internship at Yola Specialist Hospital from that year till 1985 when he started his National Youth Service at the State Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Ogun State (1985 – 1986). For three years thereafter, he started work as the Pharmacist in charge of the General Hospital, Ganye in old Gongola State at the end of which he took up a political appointment as Executive Chairman of Bali Local Government (1991 – 1993). This marked the beginning of a trend that would ultimately take him to the top of the political ladder of Taraba State.
In 1994, he was appointed Director-General of the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and National Resources until 1996. In 2000, he became Chairman of Taraba State Investment and Properties Ltd before his appointment as Hon. Commissioner of the Ministry of Education (2000 – 2003). After his stint at the Ministry of Health (2003 – 2005), he held the top civil service appointment of Secretary to the Taraba State Government (SSG) (2005 – 2007) before running for Governor in 2007 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which he won.
Since his assumption of office, he has embarked on several developmental projects which are aimed at adding value to the lives of Taraba citizens. This includes speeding up construction work on the proposed State University, release of 29 Mitsubishi pick-up vans and 5 Toyota Hilux with Motorolla multi-security utility system for joint patrol of the police and the military at the state’s porous borders with neighbouring countries.
In the health sector where there is a dearth of staff, Governor Danbaba Suntai’s administration has gone as far as Egypt to bring thirty expatriates to man the Jalingo ultramodern specialist hospital, spending N42.6 million on recruitment and N167 million on accommodation and furniture. It has also created the Taraba Road Maintenance Agency (TARCMA) to tackle roads rehabilitation and construction. Expansion and improvement of rural and urban water supply have gulped millions of Naira while agriculture has benefitted from the state government’s release of N68 million for the purchase of tractors and implements. In addition, the government has established an Agricultural Products Marketing Agency to buy off food crops that are on sale throughout the state at reasonable prices so as to encourage farmers to produce in excess.