On Monday 18th of December 2017, Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku laid the foundation stone for Government International Model Secondary School, Takum, to be built by the Victim Support Fund (VSF). According to Executive Director of the VSF, Prof. Sunday Ochoche, the siting of the school was a demonstration of the recognition that the state has been greatly impacted by the insurgency which has occasioned the massive influx of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, thereby leading to considerable strain on social infrastructure in the state. He said that the fund was committing 1.25 Billion Naira to the project and is expected to be completed within eight months.
Governor Darius Ishaku, in his remarks, said the school, when completed, would not only compliment the current reform his administration has embarked upon in the education sector, but would help to accommodate students with deficiency in their O’level examinations by providing remedial studies to fast track admission into universities.
Meanwhile, on December 19, 2017, the TY Danjuma Foundation donated an ultra-modern maternity health facility built by the Foundation to Takum community, in Taraba State, to check the prevalence of child and maternal mortality in the state. The founder and Chairman of the Foundation, Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (rtd), while commissioning the Rufkatu Danjuma Maternity in Takum said that he was alarmed by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s report that 140 women and 2,000 children, less than 5 years old, die daily in Nigeria. Danjuma, who described the facility as a ‘state-of-the-art, modern, sustainable and specialized mother and child facility’ said it was aimed at providing enhanced maternal and perinatal healthcare services to Takum and surrounding communities.
He said the project was a partnership between T. Y. Danjuma Foundation, the Taraba State Government and Development Africa who would subsequently manage the facility. General Danjuma urged the people of Takum to take advantage of the facility to prevent unnecessary maternal and child deaths.
Governor Darius Ishaku, who also graced the event, said the project demonstrated the “Danjuma’s concern for the well being of the people especially the most vulnerable in the society” and said that“the state government is pleased to identify and contribute towards this noble project”. Governor Ishaku, therefore, urged the people of the area to take the facility as their personal property that must be “guarded jealously” as a critical asset of the community.