Nigeria’s House of Representatives Given a Pat On the Back

By Joseph Edegbo

 Kaduna-(Nigeria)–Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has acknowledged the commitment of members of the Eight House of Representatives who have passed a record number of bills and motions. 

 Dogara,stated that the achievement was made possible through the contributions and cooperation of all members of the House, and thanked them for their unwavering support for his leadership.

Receiving the New Telegraph Newspapers’ Award for Public Service in 2017, which had been collected on his behalf by the House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker noted that Nigerians will celebrate the 8th Assembly after the expiration of their tenure in 2019 as more bills would be passed in 2018.

“Let me first of all thank my brother here for standing in for me while I was unavoidably absent, but as they say for a good cause. I was away in Rome and it was a good thing that he stood in for me. Knowing that he is the Leader of the House, I felt that he is the most appropriate person to do that, because when you’re talking of effective leadership in the Public Service, there’s no way it can be provided without the support of others, especially when it comes to the business of the National Assembly.”

“We all know that unlike the Executive where not all are elected into leadership, in Parliament, you didn’t bring anyone into the House, so there’s always that parity. I want to say in recognizing that the House of Representatives has been effective and item has been on account of the contribution of all of us, all Honourable Members, and as I am accepting this award, I do it on behalf of all Honourable Members.”

“I know they may have sieved through the records and seen that some of the best achievements of the House have been as a result of some of the things in the custody of the Leader. Things like the record number of Motions and Bills, these are unparalleled in the history of the Nigerian Legislature. Even today we did something very novel, it is our first time even in this Assembly, and it was under the auspices of the leadership and the Leader of the House.”

The Speaker also revealed that the House will continue to celebrate Nigerians who excell in various spheres of human life saying, “we have broken the glass ceiling in different areas of calling. We made a promise that any Nigerian that excels or sets a good record, the National Assembly – in particular, the House of Representatives – will celebrate that person. Today we celebrated 2 young people who have lived and set records in their fields and they are living testimonies to the Nigerian youth that whatever is their dream, it is achievable, and I pray that – as I said in the Chambers today – the recognition given to them on the floor of the House will spur them to greater achievements in life”, he said, referring to Aarinola Olaiya Blessing and Abdulsalam Kamaldeen, who were honoured for exceptional academic excellence during Tuesday’s sitting.

The Speaker further called on legislators to sustain their efforts and congratulated other 2017 NEW TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER awardees.

Gbajabiamila, on his part, said being chosen to represent the Speaker was an honour and that the award had made all Members extremely proud.

“The specific award was public service award 2017. It was a very worthy, meaningful award. It takes a certain character to excel in public service in Nigeria and amongst all the public servants in Nigeria, you were chosen as the numero uno. For us in the House of Representatives, we are extremely elated and proud of you and your achievement.”