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NASS REPUBLIC: Tackling secessionist agitations. Two other stories, and a quote to remember

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The Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, last week, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the agitations by secessionist groups in the country.

We tracked two other dominant stories from the federal lawmakers within the week under review.

1. Tackling secessionist agitations

On November 2, Lawan noted that secessionist groups were harmful to nation-building, and advised the Federal Government to address the groups’ agitations.

The Senate President made the call in his address at the public presentation of a book titled: “Foundation of Nigeria’s Unity,” written by the Senator representing Cross Rivers Central District, Sandy Onor.

“There is no part of this country that does not cry about marginalisation from time to time, but, I think, some of these tendencies of pull away are centrifugal tendencies created by the elites. It is our duty as leaders to look into those genuine calls when our citizens complain,” he said.

Lawan’s call is not new. And, the Senate President would find it hard to deny that Buhari had failed, and aggravated the situation, mostly with his perceived mismanagement of Nigeria’s diversity.

He may have done better to spell out the several mis-steps that have helped give birth to groups like IPOB and the Yoruba Nation, and challenged the President to tackle them.

But can Lawan absolve himself and office from all the blames? Indeed, how much of the influence wielded by him did he bring to bear in addressing the issues at stake?

The records speak so little of his interventions, as not many examples exist of him championing some constitutional amendments key to dealing with the reasons for the existence of secessionist groups.

Lawan stands to share in the blames.

NASS MEMORY LANE

Who said;

“I want to tell you, Mr Speaker, and tell the House that as of today, I have lost people even after these kidnappers take money. I have lost close to five people. These kidnappers take the demanded ransom and then kill the people…”

Answer:See end of post

Two other stories

2. Omo-Agege heap of accusations

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, and Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, on October 30, accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State of impoverishing Deltans, rigging elections, and misappropriating funds, and expressed resolve to remove the party from power in next year’s governorship election.

He made the accusations in a series of tweets, on his verified Twitter handle, @OvieOmoAgege.

He said: “We stand on our assertion that the PDP is a clear, present and continuing danger in our State. We owe ourselves and future generations the duty to respond to its manifest failing by first removing it from power.”

Omo-Agege has been walking on this lane since he declared his intention to run for the governorship position of the State. Hence, the rhetorics can be assumed to be a deliberate campaign strategy.

Nevertheless, he has a right to his strategies but shouldn’t all politicians stick to issue-based campaign, and avoid attacks on opponents?

It would be interesting to see how Omo-Agege fares in his governorship aspiration.

READ ALSO:NASS REPUBLIC: Nnamani playing double-faced game? Two other stories, and a quote to remember

3. Gbajabiamila’s lofty plan

On November 6, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, noted that Nigeria was in dire need of leaders that would groom the young ones to take over leadership responsibilities.

Gbajabiamila said this at the graduation of the first 74 trainees of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI), aimed at “building the next generation of Nigeria’s public sector leaders,” particularly in the legislature, held at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

“I have always said the lack or failure of leaders to mentor the young ones is the bane of society. That is why we introduced the LMI, a robust programme to equip our young ones for the leadership tasks ahead, for governance and for the good of our country,” the Speaker said.

The task of grooming Nigeria’s next generation of leaders is, no doubt, laudable. Thus, it would not be out-of-place for other established national leaders, like Gbajabiamila, to walk this path.

What, however, appears to be a clog in the wheel is the bad reputation that Nigerian leaders have accumulated over the years. This could serve as reason for some youths to develop cold feet in attending programmes of this nature.

Answer: Hon. Ahmed Wase

Wase, who is the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, made the statement on June 23, 2022. He made it during a debate on a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Solomon Maren from Plateau State – on the recent kidnapping of some traditional rulers from his constituency.

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