1 July 2008
editorial
Lagos — The row at the House of Representatives over the Speaker, Hon. Dimeji Bankole's frequent overseas travels may have died down with his impassioned plea to his colleagues last week, but not so for the malaise of absenteeism which has afflicted the National Assembly since the return of democracy in 1999.
It has always been a depressing ritual to helpless Nigerian: no sooner have the federal lawmakers arrived at the National Assembly after bitterly fought elections to "serve my people" than they lose interest in lawmaking, their primary responsibility. Then, they take on new vocations, often in locations far removed from their duty post. Globetrotting and contract hunting are by far the vocations of choice. One of the consequences of this seeming act of truancy is that both chambers are often barely able to form quorum for normal legislative business.
Although, the recent crisis at the House was supposed to have arisen as a result of an attempted gang-up against Bankole's leadership, the Speaker provided the veritable excuse, if not justification, for the latest round of brickbats. Some of Bankole's colleagues had accused him of living out of the bag. They alleged that his frequent travels, often on " frivolous grounds", had robbed the House of leadership and engendered absenteeism among other members of the House. Bankole and his supporters, on the other hand, readily admitted that the Speaker had been travelling, but explained that he had a good reason to do so: " capacity-building". The real issue, they contended, was a rash of controversial payments to the tune of N400 million made in Bankole's absence.
Whereas Bankole had drawn flaks for leading 25 lawmakers on a whistle-stop trip to the USA, United Kingdom (UK) and France to build capacity, reports indicated that 40 anti-Bankole legislators, in bizarre irony, equally headed for the UK to strategise on how to bring the Speaker down to heel! The expected implosion because of the Speaker's travels however did not happen.
There is now a truce of sorts at the House. But the allegation by a legislator is yet worrisome. His words: " Some members are worried that the Speaker hardly sits to preside over the House. And once he travels, members too don't take attendance seriously and this is affecting House legislative activities." For a Speaker who swept to office on November 1 last year touting a reformist agenda, this observation should be disturbing, irrespective of the quarters it issued from.
The legislative record of the House and, indeed, that of the whole National Assembly has not reflected remarkable gains from the legislators' incessant travels. More of the bills for the lawmakers' consideration are still originated by the executive arm of government. Even at that, many of the Bills remain un-debated and so not passed. Debates in the chambers are hardly reflective of depth of research-based knowledge. The legislators may well have their shopping list of the things they lack; it is however their image as underachieving servants that resonates in the public domain.
The nation, to be fair, has invested sufficiently in the comfort of the legislators. It reserves the right to expect a sterling performance from them. The perks of office for the legislator of today, a far cry from mere sitting allowance to which a federal legislator was entitled in the First Republic, are thought to be a generous but necessary recompense for his undivided attention to lawmaking for the good governance of the nation. The nation is seriously short-changed when legislators head for the nearest airport on the flimsiest of excuses.
We do not argue for sit-at-home and provincial legislators. But travels should only be undertaken when they are absolutely necessary. We hardly hear of legislators from other nations visiting Nigeria with the regularity favoured by our own representatives. Even, legislators from smaller neighbouring countries, who obviously have more to learn, are rarely seen arriving Nigeria in planeloads. We believe that much of the information needed in the legislators' so-called capacity-building drive can be sourced through the Internet. After all, it is now a wired world; not a flyer's one.
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