Are you from a community in Taraba, “Nature’s gift to the nation?” Do you know that your people can build more socio-industrial excellence if they get the liberty to own and control their lands, resources and socio-industrial destiny? Today, you are sent to take the message of intercultural liberty to your community and their neighbors for them to prepare to manifest the greatness that God put in each community at the Tour of Liberty. This intercultural liberty is the belief that:
“there is something great in every community and culture, and so, they all deserve the liberty to own, modify and use their cultural, human and natural resources to prosper and to manifest their greatness to their communities, nations, continent and the world. And that the four institutions of public regulation (government, religion, academia and mass media) are only made to support these communities and their members to manifest their greatness.”
Your people are not made to depend, survive and endure, but to prosper and manifest abundance to other people in Taraba, Nigeria, Africa and the world. This Tour of Liberty will lead to instituting private property rights in a Restart National Conference for each community or individual to own and control their lands and resources (cultural, human and natural resources). For, despite government beautification of the area, as long as communities and individuals lack control of their lands and resources for socio-industrial growth, they are still under neo-colonial bondage.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: Taraba state was created in 1991, and derives its name from Taraba River. Taraba has over 77 tribes like the Mumuye, Mambilla, Jukun, Kuteb, Tiv, Wurkuns, Ichen, Jenjo, Chamba, Yandang, Fulani and Ndola, who are spread across over 150 communities. Though each group has its own language, Hausa is the general language with a fairly even distribution between Christianity and Muslim believers. The various groups in Taraba have various festivals and legends, which they can refine for arts, entertainment and sending their message to the world. Some of the cultural festivals celebrated in Taraba include: Nwonyo international fishing festival, Mihu and Taraba Cultural Praise and worship festival.
HUMAN RESOURCES: based on the 2008 INEC register, Taraba has a population of about 2.3 million industrious people. Some of their current endeavours include pottery, cloth-weaving, dyeing, mat-making, carving, embroidery and blacksmithing. And some prominent people from Taraba who can influence this socio-industrial liberation process and prosperity for Taraba people include: Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, Theophilus Danjuma, David Sabo Kente, Agbu Kefas, Haruna Manu, Darius Ishaku, Abbas Njidda Tafida, Jolly Nyame and others.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Taraba covers 59,365 square kilometers and has a moderate rainfall and temperate climate over the year. Its main rivers are Benue, Donga, Taraba and Ibi which get their sources from Cameroon Mountains. Taraba has undulating landscape dotted with a few mountains, and its vegetation varies from low forest in the south to grassland in the Northern part. Most communities have arable land for maize, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava, yam, coffee, groundnut, tea and cotton, and for livestock. Also, they have mineral deposits like bauxite, gold, diamonds, limestone, gemstones (sapphire), gypsum, kaolin, barytes, lead/zinc ores, iron ore, salt, graphite, marble, graphite and uranium. The tourist attractions include Mambilla Tourist Centre, Gumpti Park, Gashaka game reserve, Nwunyu Fishing Festival in Ibi.
POTENTIALS FOR THESE RESOURCES WITH THE ACTIVATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS IN NIGERIA
CULTURAL: since they have different ethnic communities, they can develop movies, books, stories, games, and arts to project their story of harmonizing their differences to manifest their intercultural liberty.
HUMAN:
with 2.3 million people and vast arable land, Taraba can produce expert farmers, manufacturers, scholars, doctors, athletes and professionals in all sectors of the economy.
NATURAL RESOURCES: apart from the foods that they can massively produce when they fully engage in mechanized farming, individuals and communities in Taraba can also make technical products based on the mineral resources in their lands, such as:
Iron ore: used in making steel and pans.
Limestone and gypsum: used in making cement, paperboard and plaster.
Lead: used in batteries, cable sheaths, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, light industry, lead oxide, radiation protection and other industries
Zinc: used to make brass and for medicinal purposes. It is the fourth most consumed metal in the world after iron, aluminium and copper. It is combined with copper to form brass and with other metals to form materials in automobiles, electrical components, and household fixtures.
Bauxite: used in vehicles, electronics, construction, utensils and main constituent material in making aeroplane.[1] It is also used in different industries for chemicals, refractory, abrasive, cement, steel, petrol, rubber, plastic, paint and cosmetics, then in construction, paper-making, water purifying and petrol-refining.
Gold: used in making jewelleries (50%), Electronics (37%), official coins (8%) and others (5%).
Diamonds: for jewelries, beautifications and industrial drilling and cutting equipment
Kaolin: used for film formation, fibre extension, polymer extension and reinforcement, chemical composition, carrier (pesticides and pharmaceuticals) adsorbent, diluent and polishing agent for teeth, automobiles, soft-metals like gold and silver.
Barytes: used as weighting agent in drilling fluids for the oil and gas industry, as a contrast agent in medical imaging, and as a filler and pigment in paints, plastics and paper. Also used in manufacturing glass, ceramics, and rubber.
Salt: in food and industry
Graphite: in pencils, carbon brushes, lubricants, electrodes for batteries, break lining, foundry facing, insulation, for polishing, acoustic drivers in headphones and a moderator in nuclear reactors.
Gemstones, sapphires and marbles: for making tiles, furniture finishing, building rocks, paving stones, monuments, slabs, gemstones, etc
Uranium: A kilogram of natural Uranium produces as much heat as 20 tonnes of coal. This heat can be harnessed to make steam and generate power.
When communities and individuals take control of their lands and resources, then they can partner with various groups and well-regulated investors to properly use these resources to prosper and manifest their abundance.
Written by Samuel K Banja
[1] BYJU’s, “Uses of bauxite” www.byjus.com/chemistry/uses-of-bauxite/ retrieved 1st May, 2020.
