Last Thursday was Democracy Day and Senators were not left out in wishing Nigeria well. A day earlier, Senators sponsored a joint motion to felicitate on 15 years of uninterrupted democracy since 1999. The motion was, expectedly, led by the leader, Senator Victor Emmanuel Takom Ndoma-Egba (SAN).
On Thursday, in a personal statement, Ndoma-Egba commended the National Assembly’s stabilising efforts during crises; often going beyond its constitutional roles to proffer solutions in moments of trouble.
Mindful of the interruptions in the legislature, the Senate Leader posited that this Assembly had provided leadership despite its relatively young life.
His words: “The National Assembly, the symbol of democracy did not exist during the military interregnum and because of the several military interventions, the National Assembly was dissolved and we didn’t have the opportunity of consistent growth like the other two arms of government – the executive and the judiciary.”
“So, you must look at how we’ve fared against this background. For almost 30 years that we didn’t exist, we didn’t grow any capacity; we didn’t grow any facilities because we didn’t exist. So, in the last 15 years, in fact, when democracy returned in 1999, we started from the scratch again, as it were; trying to build facilities, trying to build capacities.
“Now, stability has been the consistent feature of the National Assembly. That’s a major achievement that this Assembly has achieved because we are now growing capacity.
“In the early days of the late (President Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua Presidency, there was a massive labour strike and it was the Senate that intervened and resolved it. Again, with President Jonathan, the Senate has had to intervene and resolve the massive January 2012 fuel subsidy strikes.
“Whenever there’s been a major national challenge, the Senate in particular and the National Assembly in general have risen to the occasion. People have ascribed responsibilities to the Senate that are not in the Constitution but I would like to say that we have performed our constitutional functions of legislating and oversight to the best of our ability and capacity.
“We’ve also performed our historic responsibility of stabilising the polity in times of crisis. In spite of the huge challenge of turnovers that erodes institutional memory, and in spite of that, we’ve reached where we’ve reached today,” Ndoma-Egba said.
Taking it up from there, Senator Smart Adeyemi, former national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) pointed out that in spite of its challenges, Nigerians have every cause to celebrate sustenance of democracy.
He also commended the National Assembly under the leadership of Senator David Mark for stabilising the legislative arm of the government, which is the foundation of democracy but called for restructuring of the country, in line with democratic principles.
“We must restructure our country according to the principles of democracy. How can we recruit a soldier from Akwa Ibom and send him to Maiduguri where he doesn’t know the terrain? It is unfair. We need to create more states so that people can govern themselves. There is money, it is all about misplaced priority,” Adeyemi insisted.
Same day, Andy Uba, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) committee enjoined his compatriots not to be weighed down by the challenges of today. He assured that having enjoyed 15 uninterrupted years of democracy, as the practice evolves, tomorrow would be better for all.
“As we mark the 15th anniversary of democratic rule, let’s continue to work together to consolidate on the gains so far made, knowing that in spite of the challenges of today, tomorrow will be a better day,” said Uba.
If the advice of the Chairman of the Committee on Works is adhered to, Nigerians should rather guard this democracy jealously calling.
“Let us be careful how we put a cog in the wheel of our progress…We should have pride in what we are doing and have faith in what our leaders are doing to move Nigeria forward. We must encourage ourselves and have faith in our military. We should use this occasion to rekindle faith in ourselves…”
To the Chairman of the Petroleum Resources (Upstream) Committee, Senator Paulker Emmanuel, the saying that the worst democracy is better than a benevolent military rule rings true. An incurable optimist, Senator Paulker believes the only hiccup in this dispensation is fixing the power sector but stressed nevertheless that, “democracy is the best government any civilised country should practice.”
This resonated well with Senator Kabiru Gaya, the lawmaker from Kano State who, in addition to seeing the good in having 15 years of uninterrupted democracy praised and commended Mark “for offering good leadership.”
Gaya did not leave out some state governors whom he admitted have performed well.
Nigeria needs $30bn for gas use –Senator Nwaogu
If calculations from the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas Resources are accurate, then, for Nigeria to produce and utilise 3-4 billion cubic feet of gas per day in 2015 as against over 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas being presently being flared away on daily basis, from a proven gas reserve of 187 trillion cubic feet, the country needs over $30 billion to put needed infrastructure in place for that purpose.Senator Nkechi Nwaogu disclosed this on behalf of the Senate Committee in her welcome address at the National Conference on Gas Resources, organised by the committee in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other relevant stakeholders.
She said: “The low utilisation of natural gas in the country is greatly hinged on the inadequacy of gas transmission and distribution infrastructure which results to Nigeria flaring about 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, second to Russia in the world in gas flaring.
“Thus, to practically address the ugly tide as recently submitted by development experts, a significant investment of over $30billion on infrastructure is needed to achieve Nigeria’s target of producing 3-4 billion cubic feet of gas a day by 2015.”
Senator Nwaogu also said since the quantity of natural gas in Nigeria is said to be more than twice the quantity of crude oil with estimated reserve production ratio of about 120 years compared to that of crude oil which is just 42 years, Nigeria needs to carry out the needed investment in the gas sector for optimum utilization of gas production for the benefit of all.
He submission tallies with Senate President David Mark’s position at the conference who urged all the stakeholders in the sector to use the current gas revolution to improve the lives of the people and not just limiting it to natural hydrocarbons and wealth.
In an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Abu Ibrahim, Mark noted that the gas revolution, which has come upon Nigeria, is not just about hydrocarbons and wealth but also about human beings as regards improvement in their lives in various ways.
“Indeed, the gas revolution has come upon us. However, I need to stress that the revolution is not just about hydrocarbons and wealth. It is also about human beings and the betterment of the lives of people, their communities and the entire society.
“We have to explore the varying opportunities of this revolution and chart a sustainable way forward for the development of our people since the revolution does not only engender the creation of a plethora of new jobs but also serves as a springboard for the rebirth of the non-oil sector in our country, such as manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and so on,” said Mark.
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by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
