Taraba State

Taraba state was created out of the former Gongola state on 27 August 1991, by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Donga River, Taraba state

Taraba state is bounded in the west by Nasarawa state and Benue state, northwest by Plateau state, north by Bauchi state and Gombe state, northeast by Adamawa state, and south by Northwest Region in Cameroon.

The Benue, Donga, Taraba and Ibi are the main rivers in the state. They rise from the Cameroonian mountains, straining almost the entire length of the state in the North and South directions to link up with the River Niger.

The climate of Taraba state is marked by an annual average temperature of 33°C but high level of cold in January and an increased rainfall in August.[4] The percentage of rainfall in Taraba state is 40.35% with 54.98% relative humidity. The state is usually very warm in March with 40.44°C, and an average wind of 8.84km/h.[5]

Taraba state has many hospitals and health care centers, some of them are:

• Courage hospital
• Federal Medical Center (FMC)
• Gateway hospital
• General hospital bali
• Sauki hospital and maternity
• Totus hospital and maternity
• Albert healthcare company
• Taraba specialist hospital[6]
• kwararafa hospital and maternity
• Federal polythecnic bali medical center
• First referral hospital
• Biyama hospital

Taraba state consists of sixteen (16) Local Government Areas (or LGAs), which are governed by elected chairmen. The local government areas are listed as follows:

Languages of Taraba state listed by LGA include:[7]

Ussa. Kuteb language

Other languages spoken in Taraba state are Akum, Bukwen, Esimbi, Fali of Baissa, Jiba, Njerep, Tha, Yandang, Yotti, Ywom.[7]

Taraba State has many schools and education centers.

The major occupation of the people of Taraba state is agriculture. Cash crops produced in the state include coffee, tea, groundnuts and cotton. Crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava, and yam are also produced in commercial quantity.[11] In addition, cattle, sheep and goats are reared in large numbers, especially on the Mambilla Plateau, and along the Benue and Taraba valleys. Similarly, the people of Taraba state undertake other livestock production activities like poultry production, rabbit breeding and pig farming in fairly large scale. Communities living on the banks of River Benue, River Taraba, River Donga and Ibi, engage in fishing all year round. Other occupational activities such as pottery, cloth-weaving, dyeing, mat-making, carving, embroidery and blacksmithing are also carried out in various parts of the state.[12]

Taraba state has abundant natural resources for industrial and commercial use, these include:[13]

The government has made concerted efforts to improve areas of tourist attractions like Mambilla Tourist Center, Gumpti Park and game reserve in Gashaka;, Karimjo Abedahh festival and the Nwunyu fishing festival in Ibi, all this is usually held in April of each year where activities such as canoe racing, swimming competition and cultural dances are held. Other festivals are Purma of the Chamba in Donga, Takum and Jibu culture dance in Bali, the Tagba of Acha People in Takum, Kuchecheb of Kutebs in Takum and Ussa,[15] Kati of the Mambilla and host of others. Taraba is called "Nature's gift to the nation" as the state is rich and has many ethnic groups, including Kuteb, Chamba, Yandang, Mumuyes, Mambila, Karimjo, Wurkums, Jenjo, Jukun, Ichen, Tiv, Kaka, Pena, Kambu, kodei, Wawa, Vute, Fulani, Hausa and Ndola.

Mambilla Tribe of Taraba State

A striking historical fact about the State is that it encompasses part of the Mambilla Region which is famed as the Bantu cradle, having been occupied for some five millennia to date (Schwartz, 1972; Zeitlyn & Connell, 2003).

• 
  Transportation In river Lamido, Taraba State
• 
  A Mountain in Gembu
• 
  The Mambilla Plateau
• 
  Donga River, Taraba state
• 
  Loop traditional dancers from Taraba State
• 
  Cijin Lake in Gembu, Taraba state
• 
  Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, 2012
• 
  Gashaka Gumti National Park Taraba State

• Aisha Alhassan - Former Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs, Former Senator of Northern Zone of Taraba
• Emmanuel Bwacha - Senator Representing Southern Taraba, Deputy Senate Minority Leader at National Assembly
• Theophilus Danjuma - Nigerian soldier, Politician, Businessman, Nigerian Chief of Army Staff (1975-1979), Minister of Defence (1999-2003)
• Anna Darius Ishaku - Barrister, First Lady of the state/Wife to the Executive Governor, Darius Ishaku[16]
• Darius Ishaku - Current Governor of Taraba state
• Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama - The current Archbishop of Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja
• Agbu Kefas - Governorship PDP Flag Bearer, 2023 Election[17]
• Shuaibu Isa Lau - Senator representing Taraba North
• Saleh Mamman, Nigerian minister of power
• Mahmud Mohammed - Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria
• Jolly Nyame - Former Governor of Taraba state
• Danbaba Suntai - Nigerian pharmacist, Politician, Former Governor of Taraba state
• Abbas Njidda Tafida - Current Emir of Muri
• Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf - Senator Representing Central Taraba, Member of the All Progressive Congress(APC),Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC)

The state government is led by a democratically elected governor who works closely with members of the state's house of assembly. The capital city of the state is Jalingo.[18]

The governor of the state is selected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of votes and over 25% of votes in at least two-third of the state local government areas. If no candidate passes threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.[19]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Taraba State.

• Official website
• Nigerian Post Office- with map of LGAs of the state