Senator David Jimkuta Doesn't Know Me — But I Think Taraba Should See What I Found (AN OPEN LETTER BY DR. Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D)
- Dr Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D (D.B.A)

- 14 hours ago
- 20 min read
By Dr. Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D. (D.B.A.)
Founder & CEO, IBIFOUNDRY LIMITED
Publisher, Ibi-Africa, Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria
Published: August 2026

Editorial Note from Dr. Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D (D.B.A)
This is an independent public-interest commentary.
It is not a voting instruction, paid political advertisement or declaration that IBI Africa belongs to any political party, politician or political tendency.
At IBI Africa, my position is simple: when somebody serving our people does something that can be seen, verified and connected to human impact, we should be mature enough to acknowledge it.
When questions need to be asked, we should be equally courageous enough to ask them.
That standard should apply to everybody.
APC.
PDP.
ADC.
Any other party.
Government.
Opposition.
Elected officials.
Appointed officials.
If the work is good, let us document it.
If the numbers are claimed, let us verify them.
If something has not been completed, let us say so.
If we get something wrong, let us correct it.
That is the spirit in which I write this open letter.
Dear Distinguished Senator David S.U. Jimkuta,
Sir,
You do not know me personally.
In a funny way, that is probably one of the strongest reasons I decided to write this letter.
Nobody called me from your office.
Nobody commissioned this article.
Nobody sent me a talking point.
Nobody told IBI Africa to praise Senator Jimkuta.
I am simply a Taraba son watching another Taraba son who presently carries the responsibility of representing an entire senatorial district.
And from where I am standing, I believe some things deserve to be said publicly.
The official website of Nigeria's National Assembly currently identifies Senator David Jimkuta as the senator representing Taraba South Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly and lists him as a member of the All Progressives Congress.
That is the office.
But an office title alone has never impressed me very much.
I am far more interested in another question:
What can ordinary people point to after a public servant has occupied an office?
Not posters.
Not campaign songs.
Not convoys.
Not photographs of politicians sitting together.
Not grammar.
Not promises recycled from one political season to another.
I mean something a farmer can touch.
Something a student can use.
Something a young entrepreneur can turn into income.
Something a community can see.
Something that remains there when the banners have disappeared.
That is the standard I have tried to bring to this letter.
And from the publicly available evidence I have examined, together with things I have heard personally from people on the ground, I believe Distinguished Senator David S.U. Jimkuta has created enough visible footprints to deserve serious public documentation.
Not worship.
Not propaganda.
Documentation.
There is a difference.
So, Distinguished Senator, from one Taraba son whom you may never have met, here are twelve reasons I believe your record deserves to be documented.
1. Because empowerment becomes meaningful when people can physically see it
One problem with Nigerian politics is that figures can sometimes become too easy to announce.
Billions begin to sound like ordinary English.
A politician says ₦500 million.
Another says ₦2 billion.
Another announces ₦10 billion.
Everybody claps, journalists publish the figure, social media moves on, and three weeks later nobody can properly explain what the money actually produced.
That is why I am interested in physical evidence.
BusinessDay reported that Senator Jimkuta distributed empowerment materials valued at approximately ₦2 billion to constituents in Taraba South.
That figure is significant.
But the figure is not actually the most interesting part to me.
The more important question is:
What did ₦2 billion become in the hands of real human beings?
Did it become somebody's transport business?
Did it become a tailoring shop?
Did it become agricultural production?
Did it become an irrigation business?
Did it help somebody stop waiting endlessly for a government appointment?
Those questions matter because good empowerment should ultimately produce independence, not political dependency.
I am one of those Nigerians who believes that our definition of empowerment itself needs to mature.
Empowerment should not merely mean gathering people under a canopy, sharing items, taking photographs and going home.
The real story begins the following morning.
What did the beneficiary do with the item?
What happened six months later?
What happened after one year?
How many people did that beneficiary employ?
How much additional income entered the household?
Did the business survive?
Did the machine remain functional?
Those are the stories I believe the next generation of Taraba media should tell.
And that is one reason this article is not merely me saying, “Well done, Senator.”
I am also saying:
Sir, let us document the second half of the story.
If 500 people received productive assets, let us go back and meet some of them.
Let them speak.
Let us photograph the businesses.
Let us document failures too.
Let us find out which interventions genuinely transformed lives and which ones require redesign.
That kind of documentation is not an attack on a politician.
It is actually one of the greatest gifts serious media can give public leadership.
Because once results are properly documented, rumour becomes less powerful.
The work can speak.
2. Because 70 cars, 40 tricycle pickups and 150 motorcycles are difficult to hide
This is where the story became very interesting to me personally.
BusinessDay reported that the empowerment exercise included 70 cars, 40 tricycle pickups and 150 motorcycles.
Those are not abstract items.
They move around.
People see them. I see them.
Families know who received them.
Communities know whether beneficiaries exist.
And that reminds me of a statement from my cousin brother Samuel that made me laugh seriously when I heard it.
His point was essentially this:
If you stand somewhere along the road in Wukari for five or ten minutes, chances are you will see two or three cars connected to Senator Jimkuta's empowerment programme passing by.
Now, please, nobody should turn Samuel's roadside observation into a peer-reviewed statistical study.
It was a family conversation.
It made me laugh.
But behind the humour was something powerful.
Visible development creates witnesses.
You can argue with a press release.
You can fight over a Facebook post.
You can accuse a politician's media team of exaggerating.
But when a beneficiary you personally know is driving a vehicle he received, the conversation changes.
That does not mean every distribution programme is automatically excellent.
It does not answer whether beneficiaries were selected fairly.
It does not tell us whether the assets were allocated according to transparent criteria.
Those remain legitimate questions for journalists and constituents.
But it does mean there is something tangible enough to investigate.
And I like that.
I would love IBI Africa to eventually turn this into a proper human-interest series.
Not:
“Senator gives cars.”
We already know that headline.
I want:
“One year later: what happened to the people who received the cars?”
Meet the driver.
Meet his wife.
Meet his children.
Ask what he was doing before.
Ask what he earns now.
Ask whether the vehicle changed his life or simply gave him a temporary asset.
Ask whether he has employed another person.
Ask what has broken down.
Ask what he wishes government understood about ordinary working people.
That is media I can respect.
That is public accountability I can defend.
And that is the difference between political publicity and development journalism.
3. Because the productive equipment may matter even more than the vehicles
Cars naturally attract attention.
Motorcycles photograph well.
Tricycles are obvious.
But some of the quieter items reported from the empowerment exercise may ultimately have greater economic value to individual households.
BusinessDay reported 100 sewing machines, 40 industrial sewing machines, 25 car-washing machines, 30 irrigation pumping machines and 100 grinding machines among the equipment distributed.
That interests me.
Because I am a builder.
My mind naturally moves from “What was given?” to “What can this become?”
A sewing machine is not simply a machine.
In the right hands, it can become a shop.
A shop can become an apprentice.
An apprentice can become another business owner.
A grinding machine can become daily household income.
An irrigation pump can extend agricultural productivity beyond what rainfall alone permits.
An industrial sewing machine can increase the scale of an already existing tailor.
That is how I prefer to think about empowerment.
Not as gifts.
As economic infrastructure at household level.
But again, the real test is not distribution day.
The real test is multiplication.
If IBI Africa documents these interventions, one question I would insist on asking beneficiaries is:
“What has this item produced since you received it?”
That question changes everything.
A politician can distribute one hundred sewing machines.
But if seventy are lying unused six months later, we need to know.
If ninety are producing income, we should also know.
If ten beneficiaries have each employed two apprentices, that is a story.
If one young woman used hers to move from unemployment into a thriving fashion business, that story deserves to travel far beyond Taraba.
This is one of the areas where I believe public officers themselves should begin improving how they communicate impact.
Do not only show us distribution.
Show us transformation.
Before.
After.
Income.
Jobs.
Businesses created.
Businesses expanded.
Farm yields.
Students graduated.
Communities connected.
That is how development becomes measurable.
That is how a public servant builds a record that does not require social-media shouting to defend it.
4. Because agriculture cannot be treated like a side project in Southern Taraba
There are some places where agricultural intervention is optional.
Taraba is not one of them.
Agriculture is tied directly to livelihoods, household income, food security and the economic identity of many communities across our state.
BusinessDay reported that beneficiaries across the five local government areas of Taraba South received agricultural inputs including fertiliser and pesticides, alongside other support intended to boost farming activities.
The same report quoted a beneficiary describing how those inputs supported her farming activities.
That matters.
But there is an even bigger conversation emerging.
In July 2026, public posts associated with Senator Jimkuta's activities indicated preparations for another agricultural empowerment exercise involving tractors and other farm machinery.
Because I have not yet found sufficiently independent documentation establishing the final number actually distributed, I will deliberately not manufacture a tractor figure for this article.
That is important.
There is nothing wrong with saying:
“We are still verifying this.”
In fact, Nigerian media needs more of those five words.
So when IBI Africa eventually publishes a specific tractor number, I want us to be able to show the machines, beneficiaries, locations and programme records behind that number.
That will make the story stronger.
My interest in tractors is particularly serious because mechanisation can have effects far beyond one beneficiary.
A car may principally serve one owner.
A tractor can potentially serve multiple farms.
It can reduce manual labour.
It can increase the area cultivated.
It can improve timeliness during planting.
It can become a business itself when properly managed.
So if tractors are being distributed or deployed under this programme, I would encourage the Senator's office to make the records exceptionally clear.
How many?
What models?
Who owns them?
Where are they located?
How are farmers accessing them?
Are they personal gifts or community assets?
What is the maintenance plan?
What prevents one powerful person from monopolising a machine intended for many farmers?
Those are not hostile questions.
They are the questions that turn a good intervention into a durable institution.
Senator, if those answers are strong, publish them.
Let Taraba see.
5. Because sending 40 young people abroad to study can outlive an election cycle
This may be one of the most consequential things I discovered while researching this letter.
BusinessDay reported that 40 young people drawn from the five local government areas in Taraba South received international scholarships to study medical and engineering courses in India.
Forty people.
Now forget politics for a moment.
Think about forty families.
Think about forty young Nigerians arriving in another country to study.
Think about who some of them may become in ten years.
A doctor.
An engineer.
A researcher.
A hospital administrator.
A founder.
A lecturer.
A specialist whose expertise does not yet exist in his or her local community.
The effect of educational investment is sometimes frustrating because it does not produce the instant visual drama of commissioning a building.
A scholarship student does not become a doctor next Tuesday.
You may wait years.
But that is precisely why I respect long-horizon interventions.
They force leadership to invest in something whose complete reward may arrive after that leader has left office.
The geographic spread is also worth recording.
BusinessDay reported the 40 beneficiaries as 10 from Wukari, nine from Donga, five from Ibi, five from Ussa and 11 from Takum.
That distribution matters because representation must extend beyond one's immediate hometown or political stronghold.
But again, there is an even better story waiting to be told.
Who are these 40 people?
What are their names?
What exactly are they studying?
Which institutions?
What is the value and duration of each scholarship?
What obligations exist after graduation?
Could some eventually return to strengthen healthcare, engineering, technology and education in Taraba?
Imagine an IBI Africa documentary five years from now titled:
“The Jimkuta 40: Where Are They Now?”
That is the kind of historical record I mean when I say public service deserves documentation.
Politics will come and go.
But forty trained human beings may continue serving society for four decades.
6. Because investing in a library is an unusual political statement — and I like unusual
Anybody who knows even a little about my life knows this point would get my attention.
Books changed my life.
The Internet changed my life.
Knowledge changed my life.
Learning has taken me into rooms my background alone might never have taken me.
So when I began seeing reports around the redevelopment of the public library in Wukari, I paid attention.
Nigerian Tribune reported in March 2025 that Senator Jimkuta had transformed the Wukari State Library into an e-library as part of education-focused interventions attributed to his office.
I deliberately use the phrase “reported” here because one of the things I want IBI Africa to do is physically document the facility independently.
I want photographs.
I want to enter the building.
I want to see the books.
I want to see the computers.
I want to know Internet availability.
I want to know opening hours.
I want to know who manages it.
I want to ask students whether they actually use it.
That is the standard.
But conceptually, I love the idea.
A politician can distribute rice and everybody understands it immediately.
A library is different.
A library is a statement about what you believe human beings can become.
Its greatest beneficiary may be a sixteen-year-old boy nobody currently knows.
He may enter that building because he has nowhere else to study.
He may discover a book.
That book may lead to another idea.
That idea may eventually create something that employs hundreds of people.
Nobody may ever connect his future success to the afternoon he walked into that library.
That is how knowledge works.
Quietly.
Slowly.
Then suddenly.
This is why I say development must not only solve today's pain.
It should expand tomorrow's possibilities.
So, Distinguished Senator, this is one intervention I particularly hope is maintained beyond renovation photographs.
Keep it functional.
Keep it connected.
Keep the books current.
Keep the technology working.
And, importantly, let the institution remain useful even when nobody is campaigning.
7. Because serious representation also means fighting for infrastructure larger than one senator's office
There is another area where I want this letter to be extremely careful.
The Wukari–Akwana road has appeared repeatedly in political commentary around representation in Southern Taraba.
Earlier commentary circulated a figure of approximately ₦6.4 billion.
However, when I checked more recent reporting on the Federal Executive Council decision, The Guardian reported that FEC approved the Wukari–Akwana Road in Taraba State at ₦12.615 billion with a 12-month duration as part of a wider package of federal road contracts announced in March 2025.
That is the figure I am comfortable publishing today.
Here is where media discipline matters.
A federal road is not a personal project belonging to a senator.
Federal projects involve ministries, budgets, procurement processes, contractors, executive approvals and public resources.
Therefore, I do not want to reduce a federal road to the simplistic political language of:
“Senator X built it.”
That is not how government works.
But representation does involve advocacy.
Representatives are expected to raise constituency priorities, engage ministries and agencies, push projects, follow up and make sure communities are not forgotten in Abuja.
That is where I believe citizens should ask their representatives for evidence.
Tell us what you advocated for.
Tell us when.
Show us correspondence where appropriate.
Tell us what stage the project has reached.
Tell us who the contractor is.
Tell us what is delaying it.
And let independent media verify the physical progress.
That is healthy democracy.
For IBI Africa, the bigger opportunity is obvious:
We should go to that road.
Document it periodically.
Same camera positions.
Same locations.
Month after month.
Then nobody needs a press conference to tell citizens whether work is progressing.
The images will answer.
That is the kind of simple digital accountability system we can build from Taraba.
8. Because electricity can change the economic mathematics of an entire community
Several public reports have also associated Senator Jimkuta's representation with electricity projects intended to connect communities including Kyaor, Jandikula, Riti, Ando Igba, Sondi, Vaase and Kente to the national grid.
Nigerian Tribune reported those communities in its March 2025 account of projects attributed to the senator.
Again, I would like independent physical verification before IBI Africa describes every community as fully energised.
There is a big difference between:
A contract being awarded.
Poles being erected.
Cables being installed.
A transformer arriving.
A project being technically completed.
And households actually receiving reliable electricity.
Nigeria has taught us those are not always the same thing.
So I am interested in the last mile.
Turn on the bulb.
Show us the businesses using the power.
Talk to residents.
That is evidence.
Because electricity is not merely about lighting a room.
Electricity changes economics.
A barber works longer.
A welder works more efficiently.
A cold-room operator preserves food.
A student studies after dark.
A phone-charging business operates.
A clinic stores temperature-sensitive supplies more reliably.
Small digital businesses can function.
Households spend less on some alternative power sources.
That is why rural electrification deserves far more serious reporting than politicians standing beside transformers.
If these communities are being connected, let us document the human consequences.
And if some are still waiting, let us document that too.
Giving credit and demanding completion can happen in the same newspaper article.
Those two things are not enemies.
9. Because a senator is not only an empowerment distributor — he is a legislator
This is where I believe Nigerian political discussion often becomes dangerously incomplete.
We judge senators almost entirely by constituency projects and empowerment programmes.
But the first word in “legislator” is not “empowerment.”
A senator is sent to Abuja to legislate.
So I went looking.
The National Assembly's own Senate Bills Department records identify David S.U. Jimkuta as sponsor of SB. 452, the Federal University, Wukari (Establishment) Bill, 2024, introduced on 21 May 2024.
The same National Assembly records identify him as sponsor of SB. 673, the Institute of Chartered Trustees of Nigeria (ICTN) (Establishment) Bill, 2024, introduced on 10 December 2024.
The National Assembly's bill records also show his name against the Nigeria Tea Development Authority Bill, 2023.
That immediately expands the conversation.
Now we can ask better questions.
What problems are those bills trying to solve?
What stages have they reached?
What arguments did the senator make for them?
Which ones have progressed?
Which ones stalled?
Why?
How do they affect Taraba?
What has happened in committee?
This is the political literacy I want us to build.
I would love IBI Africa to begin producing simple “Know Your Representative” legislative scorecards.
No insults.
No propaganda.
Just:
Bills.
Motions.
Attendance where reliably available.
Committee work.
Constituency projects.
Public expenditure records.
Completed interventions.
Outstanding promises.
Then allow citizens to think for themselves.
A stronger democracy is not created when media tells people what to think.
It is created when media gives people enough verified information to think intelligently.
10. Because what interests me most is the possibility of moving from publicity to a verifiable public record
Senator, this reason is less about one project and more about an opportunity.
You already have enough publicly reported activity for people to debate your performance.
But there is a major difference between having achievements and having a well-documented record of achievements.
The Internet is changing politics.
A young person should be able to search a representative's name and discover structured evidence.
Projects.
Dates.
Locations.
Budgets.
Beneficiaries.
Bills.
Photographs.
Progress updates.
Independent reporting.
Responses to criticism.
Corrections.
That is how trust is built in a digital age.
It is something I think about constantly at IBIFOUNDRY because my work revolves around discoverability, digital trust and what I call the Searchcosystem™ — the full online trust environment around a person, organisation or business.
Public leadership has a Searchcosystem too.
When somebody hears Senator David Jimkuta's name and searches online, what does that person discover?
Can the person's questions be answered?
Can claims be verified?
Can projects be located?
Can legislative work be understood?
Can beneficiaries be found?
Can criticism be compared against documentary evidence?
That is much bigger than social-media publicity.
It is digital public record infrastructure.
And whether it is Senator Jimkuta, Governor Agbu Kefas, a local government chairman, a minister, a member of the House of Representatives or somebody sitting in opposition, I believe Taraba deserves better digital documentation of public service.
We should be able to disagree politically without losing our ability to verify facts.
That is part of the future I want IBI Africa to help build.
11. Because the people working quietly behind public officials deserve acknowledgement too
At this point, Distinguished Senator, permit me to leave the statistics for a moment.
I want to acknowledge someone I know personally.
Hon. Siman Ubandoma.
My Big Brother.
My Uncle Siman.
My brother, I see you.
The public usually sees the principal.
They see Senator Jimkuta.
They see the convoy.
They see the event.
They see the podium.
They see the photographs.
But people who have worked anywhere close to leadership understand there is another world behind the photograph.
Phones.
Messages.
Requests.
People arriving without notice.
Constituents who believe every problem must be solved today.
Protocol.
Pressure.
Criticism.
Expectations.
Emergencies.
Misunderstandings.
People who are happy with you.
People who are angry with you.
And somehow somebody behind the scenes has to keep working.
So this is simply my public salute to you, Hon. Siman.
Keep doing your best.
Keep helping people gain responsible access.
Keep telling the truth to your principal, including the truth he may not always enjoy hearing.
Keep remembering ordinary people.
Keep your phone open as much as human strength allows.
Keep your integrity.
And keep serving.
Sometimes those closest to power become walls between leadership and the people.
Do the opposite.
Be a bridge.
And when the workload becomes heavy, remember that somebody outside the office notices the effort.
Big Brother Uncle Siman, kudos.
May God strengthen you.
12. Because good work deserves documentation without turning journalists into praise singers
This final reason is really why I wrote the entire letter.
At IBI Africa, we are building something.
Quietly.
Patiently.
From Taraba State.
Our ambition is bigger than becoming another page that reposts whatever is trending.
I want us to document our people.
Our builders.
Our businesses.
Our institutions.
Our public servants.
Our hidden talents.
Our problems.
Our solutions.
Our history while it is still happening.
And I want us to do this without surrendering our independence.
So, Senator Jimkuta, this is not an application to become your praise-singing machinery.
It is something much more valuable.
It is a public pledge:
Where there is verifiable good work, we will not be afraid to document it.
Where there are beneficiaries, we want to hear their stories.
Where projects exist, we want to see them.
Where figures are published, we want to interrogate them.
Where claims are unclear, we will say they are unclear.
Where something is unfinished, we will not call it completed.
Where somebody deserves credit, we will give credit.
And where corrections are necessary, we will correct ourselves publicly.
Most importantly, we will extend the same principle to every public servant and political tendency in Taraba State.
That is essential.
IBI Africa cannot become credible by loving one politician and hating another.
We become credible by loving evidence.
That is the side I want us to take.
The side of Taraba.
The side of development.
The side of truth.
The side of work that can be verified.
Distinguished Senator, consider this kudos from a distance
Sir,
Perhaps you have never heard the name Dr. Simon Taki Zaku before today.
That is perfectly fine.
Sometimes acknowledgement is even more meaningful when it comes from someone who was never asked to give it.
I am simply watching.
And what I have seen and what I have been able to verify is enough for me to say:
Where the work is real, the work deserves acknowledgement.
But I will add something else.
Do not become satisfied with applause.
Make verification easier.
Publish better records.
Show the numbers.
Show the locations.
Show the beneficiaries.
Publish project status.
Allow independent journalists to visit.
Let critics ask questions.
Answer with evidence.
Because the strongest defence of public service is not an angry spokesperson.
It is a record that can survive scrutiny.
And that principle applies far beyond you.
I would say exactly the same thing to Governor Agbu Kefas.
I would say it to our National Assembly members.
I would say it to chairmen.
I would say it to commissioners.
I would say it to APC leaders.
I would say it to PDP leaders.
I would say it to opposition candidates.
Let the work become easier to verify.
Nigeria has had enough personality politics.
Let us gradually build evidence politics.
One thing I want young people in Taraba to learn from this
Do not allow political disagreement to destroy your ability to acknowledge reality.
If somebody you dislike does something good, saying it is good does not make you weak.
If somebody you support does something wrong, saying it is wrong does not make you a traitor.
That is maturity.
We need more of it.
We need young Tarabans who can sit together, disagree strongly on candidates, parties and policies, and still agree that a functioning library is good.
A scholarship is good if it is genuine and fairly administered.
A completed road is good.
Reliable electricity is good.
A farmer becoming more productive is good.
A young person building a sustainable business is good.
We can argue about methods.
We can argue about priorities.
We can demand transparency.
But development should not become bad merely because it came from “the other side.”
Taraba is bigger than our political camps.
My challenge to Senator Jimkuta's office
Sir, this open letter comes with a friendly challenge.
Make the documentation available.
Let people see the complete list of major constituency interventions.
Where possible, show:
Project name.
Location.
Date.
Current status.
Responsible government agency.
Approved budget where publicly available.
Contractor where applicable.
Number of beneficiaries.
Selection process.
Photographic documentation.
Independent verification.
For scholarship programmes, publish a transparent beneficiary framework while respecting legitimate privacy concerns.
For agricultural programmes, document the machinery and where it is operating.
For business empowerment, follow beneficiaries over time.
For infrastructure, show progress rather than only commissioning photographs.
For legislation, explain sponsored bills in language ordinary constituents can understand.
That is how a political record becomes a public record.
And public records outlive campaigns.
An open invitation from IBI Africa
This invitation is not only to Senator Jimkuta.
It is to every serious public servant, institution, community leader, entrepreneur, professional and development organisation working in Taraba State.
If you are doing something genuinely useful, make the evidence available.
IBI Africa wants to tell stories that deserve to survive beyond Facebook posts.
We want the farmer behind the statistic.
The student behind the scholarship.
The community behind the electrification project.
The entrepreneur behind the empowerment programme.
The patient behind the healthcare intervention.
The engineer behind the bridge.
The teacher behind the classroom.
The young builder nobody knows yet.
And we are particularly interested in stories that can be independently verified.
That is the media institution we are building.
Want IBI Africa to document a verifiable Taraba impact story?
If you represent a public institution, private organisation, NGO, community initiative, business or individual doing measurable work in Taraba State or elsewhere in Nigeria, you can reach me directly.
WhatsApp Dr. Simon Taki Zaku: +234 913 783 9031
Email: ceo@ibifoundry.com.ng
Website: IBIFOUNDRY LIMITED
LinkedIn: Dr. Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D. (D.B.A.)
Please send evidence where possible.
Photos.
Documents.
Project locations.
Beneficiary contacts.
Public records.
Before-and-after evidence.
Because our goal is not merely to publish more.
Our goal is to publish things people can trust.
A final word to Distinguished Senator David S.U. Jimkuta
Distinguished Senator,
Thank you for reading, if this letter eventually reaches you.
Thank you for every intervention that has genuinely improved somebody's life.
Thank you for the students whose horizons have been widened.
Thank you for the farmer who has received useful support.
Thank you for the entrepreneur whose equipment has become a source of income.
Thank you for every public resource you have helped direct toward Southern Taraba.
And where the work remains incomplete, sir, keep going.
Where systems can become more transparent, improve them.
Where beneficiaries need follow-up, follow them up.
Where projects require pressure in Abuja, keep applying that pressure.
Where criticism contains truth, listen.
Where criticism contains falsehood, answer with evidence.
Where people around you tell you only what you want to hear, find people courageous enough to tell you what you need to hear.
Leadership becomes dangerous when applause becomes louder than truth.
And when the day eventually comes that you no longer occupy the seat — whether sooner or many years from now — may the evidence left behind be strong enough that people do not have to argue endlessly about whether you served.
May they simply point.
There is the library.
There is the road.
There is the student.
There is the farmer.
There is the business.
There is the legislation.
There is the community.
There is the evidence.
That, to me, is legacy.
May God grant you wisdom.
May God grant you good health.
May God surround you with people who tell you the truth.
May God give you the humility to listen to ordinary constituents.
May God strengthen Hon. Siman and every sincere person working around you.
May God bless the people of Taraba South.
May God bless Taraba State.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
And may those entrusted with public office remember always that public office must produce public value.
In Jesus' mighty name.
Amen.
With respect from a distance,
Dr. Simon Taki Zaku, Ph.D. (D.B.A.)
Founder & CEO, IBIFOUNDRY LIMITED
Publisher, IBI Africa
Content Systems Architect | Search & Discoverability StrategistJalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria
WhatsApp: +234 913 7839031
Email: ceo@ibifoundry.com.ng
Website: www.ibifoundry.com.ng
LinkedIn: Dr. Simon Taki Zaku
Building Knowledge. Pursuing Excellence. Serving People.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Sources and verification trail
This article was prepared using publicly available information and first-person commentary.
The current office and constituency of Senator David S.U. Jimkuta were verified against the official National Assembly of Nigeria legislator profile.
The reported ₦2 billion empowerment exercise, 70 cars, 40 tricycle pickups, 150 motorcycles, productive equipment, agricultural inputs and 40 international scholarship beneficiaries were cross-checked against BusinessDay's October 2025 reporting.
The current publicly reported federal approval for the Wukari–Akwana Road — ₦12.615 billion — was checked against reporting on the Federal Executive Council decision.
Claims surrounding the Wukari library and specified electricity interventions are presented as reported claims requiring continued independent physical documentation, rather than treated as unquestionable assertions.
Senator Jimkuta's sponsorship of the Federal University, Wukari (Establishment) Bill and Institute of Chartered Trustees of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill was verified directly against National Assembly Senate Bills Department records.
Corrections policy: IBI Africa welcomes documentary corrections, additional primary evidence and responses from any person or institution mentioned in this article. Verified corrections should be sent to ceo@ibifoundry.com.ng.

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