MR. Emmanuel Bello, former journalist is the Commissioner of Information, Taraba State. In this interview, he sheds light on developments in the state following last week’s air crash involving Governor Danbaba Suntai, affirming that there is no vacancy in the State.

What is the situation in the State now?
Last Thursday, our governor, Mr. Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, was involved in a plane crash at Yola. He was in the plane with three of his aides.

Only four of them were in the plane- a small aircraft. Now at the point of landing, the plane crashed just a few miles away from the Yola airport.

The miracle that followed is still one that is mind boggling. All of them survived with just some injuries. They were promptly moved to the Specialist Hospital, Yola. From here, the governor was moved the next day to the National Hospital, Abuja. Nigerians saw all these on national television and read of all these movements.

So I would probably be repeating everything a whole lot of things folks already know. From Abuja the governor was taken to Germany. And all the while, he was in a very stable condition.

There are criticisms that the aides were not well treated like the governor.

That is not true and again, we have explained all of these. They weren’t abandoned. Truth is that the CSO and the Chief Detail were really stable than the others. The governor got moved immediately because he had stabilised for such movements.

The ADC couldn’t be moved immediately because of the medical advice that he can’t just be moved given his critical condition at the time. He needed time to be more stable for such a trip. Like I said, the CSO and the CD were really in good shape. The CD was even walking around the hospital. In fact, some people even think the CSO and the CD don’t need to go abroad for any treatment, considering how they are faring.

Be that as it may, they were all moved from Yola to the National Hospital, Abuja. The doctors are observing them now and would soon make the decision of whether to move them to Germany or not.

So in terms of treatment, the aides got the same kind of protocols extended to the governor.

After the governor was moved to Abuja, the aides too enjoyed the same attention. The governor of Adamawa state, Murtala Nyako was really helpful as he personally supervised the evacuation of the governor first, and of his aides later. He was at the hospital and the airport. And in all cases- that is the governor and his aides-, all of us-commissioners, special advisers, state officials – were in attendance. So the aides were not abandoned. They were given full  attention and accorded all the protocols the governor was given. Their family members have been overwhelmed with the show of solidarity from everyone in the state.

Was Governor Danbaba the pilot of the crashed plane?
Yes.

But why should the governor fly the plane?
Well, he is a trained pilot. He has had successful flights before now. So this is just one mishap but you can see that everyone survived. Would that be because of his flying skills? I don’t know. But it is a miracle all the same.

Do we know why the plane crashed?
Well, this is still being investigated by the appropriate authority. So we can’t comment on what is being investigated.

Some have argued that a poor state like Taraba doesn’t need planes.
I disagree with them. We are expanding our aviation potentials in the sense that we want to finish our airport. Right now, air travel is a nightmare for Tarabans. You would have to go to Yola before flying out. So what we are doing is building our airport. In fact, it would soon be completed. The aircraft we bought is to be part of fleet in what we call Air Taraba- a registered company to cater for that sector. Taraba has a lot of tourism potentials, apart from agriculture and solid minerals. And we know that many investors would soon be trooping to Taraba. They may want to come by air. So this is how we are opening the air literally.

The nature of the state geographically means that we should be able to fly above to show some of these potentials. And we have been doing this, using the planes to ferry many potentials investors above to see the assets we have.  Our tourism potentials can better be appreciated from an aerial view. We have done a lot of this. When, for instance, President Goodluck Jonathan came to assess the impact of the flood, we took him up on ride across the plains. So he had a very accurate view of the damage that the flood caused. So really, as a state, these aircraft have been helpful.

What about road transport?
We are not neglecting the roads. In fact, no governor has done more for road construction than Danbaba. He is fixing many of these roads even federal ones. So we are working real hard on that. Some of these roads are federal roads abandoned over the years. Take the Ardo Kola- Garba Chede road. It would link up the state in many radical ways. Or the Karim Lamido-Balaiffi road. There is another one going from Marraraba to Abong in the Cameroon borders. Even inside Jalingo, the transformation has been astounding. So we are opening up Taraba. Yet we need air transport because  some of the places are not accessible.

Are the planes owned by the governor?
The planes are bought and owned by the state government.

Back to the issue of the aides, where are they now?
They are in stable conditions. The CSO and the CD are almost well and by any standards they could be treated here. But if the doctors say they need treatment abroad, so be it. The ADC is the worst hit of the lot. We are making frantic arrangement to fly him to Germany. The reason for the delay, as I pointed out was to make him stable. He is now fit to make the rigorous trip to Germany. These are all findings by the doctors. They are the ones who are making these decisions and not one single person. These are not political, humanitarian, decisions to make. They are medical in nature.

There are insinuations that these events have left a power vacuum in the state.
There is nothing like a power vacuum. The deputy governor has the constitutional duty to take charge while the governor is away. That is what he is doing now. Government is working smoothly. Nothing is amiss. The Deputy Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar (popularly known as UTC) is performing his role. The government is still working smoothly. The legislative arm, the judiciary and the executive are working well. The Deputy Governor has since addressed the state where he reaffirmed his faith in the state and said that government was still fully in place.

He warned mischief makers that the security forces would deal with any breach in the peace and security of the state.
So there is no vacuum. The other day, he gave orders that relief materials should start getting to the affected people. He was also at the council of state meeting in Abuja. He is being supported by the state cabinet and all the security apparati of the state. So this is how governance is still in force at Jalingo and the rest of the state.

Meanwhile, the entire state is praying for the governor’s speedy recovery and his eventual return to continue with the good job he has started.