A PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON CONSTITUENTS
PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES – THE NORHT EAST ZONE
ON
March 18 2002
PROTOCOL
I feel highly honoured to be part of this all-important workshop tagged National Conference on Constituency Relations. It is to me both an honour and a privilege to present the keynote address that would herald deliberations on constituents participation in legislative activities organized for the North East Zone.
I must not fail to acknowledge the efforts of my friend, Alhaji Aminu Wali, the hard working Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly and his team for putting together this workshop. May I therefore seize this opportunity to thank the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly for esteeming me with the honour of giving the keynote address. I thank you.
For me, a workshop of this nature is most auspicious at this time as it would help enlighten the people on their rights and obligations under a democratic administration. I understand that this workshop is running in series and has been held for both the South-South and the North West Zones. This is most commendable especially in our quest to consolidate our democratic foundation.
I have personally chosen to be here because of the importance I attach to democracy and its ideals which I hope this workshop will help kindle among the participants. I have no doubt in my mind that the workshop will help bridge the rift existing between legislators and members of their constituencies.
I say this because the roles of the legislature have been grossly misunderstood by the electorate. That has been our dilemma as legislators. Even though our roles as legislators are largely policy formulation and the translation of same into a binding legal enactment, yet we are expected by our constituencies to provide amenities and perform other executive functions.
And in performing such oversight functions, we are seen by the Executive as overreaching our bounds by trying to perform executive roles. Such is our dilemma so much that we have come under severe criticisms from both the Executive and the electorate. But we are unyielding. We are unbowed. Sometimes, I empathise with the people. They voted for us on election day. We, as legislators entered into a social contract with the electorate the day they gave us their votes. Therefore, it is understandable and even justifiable for them to ask us to provide amenities for them.
But I have also observed that sometimes such demands are borne out of ignorance. It is my firm belief that this workshop will help erase such ignorance and open a new vista of understanding between the legislators and the participants. I have no doubt in my mind that the workshop will help bridge the rift existing between legislators and members of their constituencies.
I say this because the roles of the legislature have been grossly misunderstood by the electorate. That has been our dilemma as legislators. Even though our roles as legislators are largely policy formulation and the translation of same into a binding legal enactment, yet we are expected by our constituencies to provide amenities and perform other executive functions.
And in performing such oversight functions, we are seen by the Executive as overreaching our bounds by trying to perform executive roles. Such is our dilemma so much that we have come under severe criticisms from both the Executive and the electorate. But we are unyielding. We are unbowed. Sometimes, I empathise with the people. They voted for us on election day. We, as legislators entered into a social contract with the electorate the day they gave us their votes. Therefore, it is understandable and even justifiable for them to ask us to provide amenities for them.
But I have also observed that sometimes such demands are borne out of ignorance. It is my firm belief that this workshop will help erase such ignorance and open a new vista of understanding between the legislators and the participants. I have no doubt in my mind that the workshop will help bridge the rift existing between legislators and members of their constituencies.
I say this because the roles of the legislature have been grossly misunderstood by the electorate. That has been our dilemma as legislators. Even though our roles as legislators are largely policy formulation and the translation of same into a binding legal enactment, yet we are expected by our constituencies to provide amenities and perform other executive functions.
And in performing such oversight functions, we are seen by the Executive as overreaching our bounds by trying to perform executive roles. Such is our dilemma so much that we have come under severe criticisms from both the Executive and the electorate. But we are unyielding. We are unbowed. Sometimes, I empathise with the people. They voted for us on election day.
We, as legislators entered into a social contract with the electorate the day they gave us their votes. Therefore, it is understandable and even justifiable for them to ask us to provide amenities for them.
But I have also observed that sometimes such demands are borne out of ignorance. It is my firm belief that this workshop will help erase such ignorance and open a new vista of understanding between the legislators and their various constituents. Such understanding, such appreciation of the roles of the legislature will help strengthen the foundation of our young democracy.
Today, the polity has been hallmarked by various skirmishes and face-offs either between the Executive and the National Assembly, between the State Assembly and the State Executive, between the National Assembly and the State Assemblies, sometimes between the council chairmen and their councillors. A workshop of this nature will no doubt help to address these problems and proffer solutions to them. Above all, I believe that at the end, the workshop will provide us with a template for achieving good governance which is the ultimate desire of the people.
Such disagreements are acceptable only within the limits of logic and reason. But we must not allow them to snowball into undue confrontation which in itself breeds anarchy. This is the challenge before the participants at this workshop today. We must take the particulates of what we have learnt today back to our various constituencies and areas of operation.
I pray that at the end, we would have achieved the objectives of this lofty idea.
I wish you all fruitful deliberations.
Thank you.