Communities spread across Zing local government council of Taraba State have no doubt recorded significant improvements in living and educational conditions following interventions by the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, John Kizito Bonzina.
Findings by our reportee indicate that the longstanding challenge of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members rejecting postings to rural communities in the area due to lack of accommodation has been addressed.
Newly constructed and well-equipped corps members’ lodges have been provided in Yakoko, Monkin and other communities, making rural postings more attractive and reducing hardship for corps members.
Some corps members who spoke with our state correspondent confirmed that the new facilities have reversed the earlier trend where many avoided postings outside the administrative headquarters.
According to them, although many had not met the Speaker personally, they reliably gathered that the lodges were provided through his personal efforts.
In the education sector, the establishment of new examination centres in Dindin and other communities has eased the burden on secondary school students who previously trekked long distances to write the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Community leaders said the development has enabled students to sit for examinations in safer and more convenient locations.
The Speaker’s interventions have also extended to rural electrification, with transformers provided in several communities. This, residents said, has reduced the need to travel long distances to the council headquarters for basic services such as grinding corn and millet.
Community members further recounted how life became extremely difficult when major bridges linking Zing communities were washed away by floods.
One of the third-class chiefs in the area, Bitrus Adama, said several communities were cut off from the Zing administrative headquarters until the Speaker intervened.
“The Speaker of the State House of Assembly came to our rescue,” Adama said, adding that the establishment of examination centres has made it possible for children to write WAEC “comfortably without trekking several kilometres.” He assured that the communities would continue to support the Speaker in appreciation of his efforts.
Another community leader, Hamaws Yohana Musa, listed the benefits derived from new clinics, examination centres, transformers and bridges, and called on National Assembly members and other elected and appointed officials from the area to collaborate with the Speaker to further develop the communities.
Answering questions from newsmen, the Vice Chairman of Zing local government council, Cletus Yohana, pledged that the council would work tirelessly to protect the new structures and electrical installations from vandalism, ensuring their sustainability for the benefit of residents.