Danbaba Suntai []1961-2017]

Former Governor of Taraba State Mr. Danbaba Danfulani Suntai’s long battle for survival from injuries he sustained in a plane accident nearly five years ago ended last week when he passed on at an American hospital. The former governor died on Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Florida, USA where he had been undergoing rehabilitation for […]

Former Governor of Taraba State Mr. Danbaba Danfulani Suntai’s long battle for survival from injuries he sustained in a plane accident nearly five years ago ended last week when he passed on at an American hospital. The former governor died on Wednesday June 28, 2017 in Florida, USA where he had been undergoing rehabilitation for brain injuries he sustained during the 2012 plane crash.

Born on June 30, 1961 at Suntai village in Bali local government area of Taraba state, he attended Federal Government College, Kano between 1975 and 1980; School of Basic Studies [SBS] and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from where he graduated in 1984. A pharmacist by training, Suntai worked at the General Hospital, Ganye before joining politics in 1987. He contested the chairmanship of Bali local government in the defunct Gongola State under the Social Democratic Party [SDP] and won.

After the creation of Taraba state in 1991 he was appointed Director General in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and was also appointed Chairman, Taraba State Investment and Property Corporation by then governor Jolly Nyame. He later served as commissioner for education and secretary to the state government. Suntai, who had hitherto been in the ANPP, picked the PDP gubernatorial ticket after the party rejected the candidature of Danladi Baido in 2007. He was elected governor of Taraba in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011, a year before he was involved in the plane crash. 

Suntai had enrolled for training as a pilot at the Nigeria College of Aviation, Zaria in 2010 and was thus licensed. He had several successful flights with his private aircraft even while piloting the affairs of Taraba State as governor. On   October 25, 2012 the private plane he was piloting crashed just outside Yola, the Adamawa State capital. After receiving initial treatment at the Adamawa Standard German Hospital in Yola, he was transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja and from there he was flown to Germany. He was later taken to a rehabilitation centre in the United States. After 10 months overseas, Suntai returned to the country on August 23, 2013. Some of his aides claimed that he was fit to govern the state when evidence suggested otherwise.  

Suntai remained confined in Jalingo and after weeks of political intrigues based on claims and counter-claims over his health status, it was revealed that the former Taraba State governor was not healthy enough to live in Nigeria without adequate treatment, or to govern a state. He was subsequently flown abroad again for treatment even as his then deputy, Garba Umar UTC, was empowered by the Taraba State House of Assembly to fully take over the ship of the state in acting capacity. Suntai was again brought back in the build-up to the 2015 elections and remained confined in Jalingo until after the change of guard on May 29, 2015.

Some of the projects he initiated include the Taraba State University, Jalingo as well as Jalingo township roads and roads in the headquarters of all 16 LGAs. He established the Taraba Agricultural and Produce Marketing Agency [TAPMA], and Taraba Road Construction and Management Agency, TARCMA. Bold, focused as well as generous, he transformed the state capital Jalingo from a local government headquarters to a model state capital. A silent achiever, a good leader who worked tirelessly in transforming the state, Suntai united people and encouraged peaceful co-existence among all ethnic groups in the state. His death at this time is a challenge to his successors to uphold his legacy of promoting peaceful coexistence. He is survived by four children, three daughters and a son. His first daughter is a pilot based in the USA. We offer our condolences to his immediate family and to the government and people of Taraba State. May his gentle soul rest in peace.