|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Anthony Maliki
His physical radiance permeates his internal humanity. His broad smiles represent his innermost feelings about people around him. No airs, no looking down at people, no feelings of “big man” just an everyday person. For Chief David Sabo Kente, life is just as simple as it is.
Chief Kente is synonymous with philanthropy and want to take it to another level as Governor of Taraba State with his intention to contest for the position in next year’s election under the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the odds favour him. He has, over the years, provided many assistances in various sectors to the people of the state and is still doing more.
The 57-year-old through his DSK Foundation has provided for the people tremendously through welfare packages especially for the aged, less-privileged and physically-challenged. It also provided financial support, education, vocational training/skills acquisition, shelter, primary health-care and food.
He has sponsored the treatment of 66 people abroad for various ailments which could not be handled in Nigeria. He equally built and equipped a Cottage Hospital in Kente, Taraba State. He has several foreign- made motorised hospital beds to clinics in Mararaba, Didan, Nyodo, Wapan Nghaku, Gbeji, Tse Atenge, Sontyio and Sev-a, to mention a few.
Besides, the DSK foundation has offered 1455 scholarships to students of tertiary institutions in the state between 2012 and 2013 alone and further paid SSCE, NECO and NABTECH fees for 2000 less-privileged secondary school students in Taraba State in 2013.
The foundation renovated a three-block of class rooms in Kente town, procured and distributed science equipment to Government Secondary School, Kente, built a block of classrooms for the Islamic Nursery School, Karim Lamido, and donated text books to Federal Science Technical College, Jalingo.
He has empowered 2,000 youth and 4,200 women for small scale businesses and further trained 54 women in skills acquisition on Fingerlings Production among many others.
An astute politician who prefers to build bridges of harmony across a broad spectrum, he was the candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2015 Taraba State Gubernatorial election before he joined the All Progressives Congress in 2016 against Darius Dickson Ishaku of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and late Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan of All Progressives Congress (APC).
In 2017, DSK decamped with over 25,000 supporters to All Progressives Congress (APC), which later led him to declare interest to contest again for the APC ticket in the 2019 Governorship election in Taraba State.
He is currently a member of the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) and the chairman, Board of Trustees, Northeast Development Education Endowment Fund.
He began his education at LEA Primary School in Kente from 1972 -1978 and moved to Mbiya Government Secondary School, Takum from 1978 to 1983. He enrolled into the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1984 – 1985 before obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the same University in 1988.
After his mandatory National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), programme in Kebbi Local Government Secretariat, in the then old Sokoto State, he joined the services of the defunct Gongola State in the Ministry of Agriculture, as an Accountant under the Manpower Reserved Scheme from June to September in 1989.
He was later fully absorbed into the state civil service as an accountant with the Ministry of Agriculture and seconded to the then Gongola Agriculture Development Programme (GADP) headquarters, Yola, in July 1990. He was later promoted to the position of Financial Accountant in the same Ministry and worked between January and March of 1991. Afterwards, he became the Zonal Accountant of Mubi Zone with the same project.
Upon the creation of Taraba State in 1991, Kente transferred his services to the new state and was made the Zonal Accountant for Wukari/Takum Zone of Taraba Agricultural Development Programme (TADP). In February 1992, he was transferred to Gembu as the zonal Accountant of (TADP) from 1994 to 1996.
He joined the Nigerian College of Accountancy from 1995-1996 where he earned the designation of a Certified National Accountant and became a member of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). Between 2001 and 2002, he obtained admission and got a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Modibbo Adama Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State.
He later joined the National Assembly Service Commission and rose to the position of Deputy Director of Finance for Legislative Aides, Account Division, a position which he held until 2014.
As palpitations of politics activities heighten, no doubt, with DSK’s pedigree, he is better placed to govern Taraba State.
