Date Published: 09/30/09
IMO HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY: BETWEEN LAWMAKING AND NOISEMAKING By Ogechi Steve
To discuss the complex shades of mediocrity in the Imo State House of Assembly would take an entire tabloid.
For anyone who could afford to fling a whole day sitting through one of their sessions, such a person would go home thinking of puppetry in Disney land.
On the other hand, a visit to the Imo House of Assembly, may compel one to concede to one Mr Anyaeche, a blogger, who described members of the Imo State House of Assembly as a “bunch of merry men”. And of course, not so long ago, an editorial comment in a national newspaper, certified the gerrymandering in the Imo State House of Assembly when it labeled the members, “idle lawmakers,” for prioritizing frivolities.
Hence, about a fortnight ago, when I heard the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Goodluck Opiah rattling away about his campaign for an automatic second term ticket for Governor Ikedi Ohakim, I almost threw up!
Likening the State Assembly to Disney land would imply a crowd of 26 puppets and one grand puppeteer.
Actually, this is complimentary because the honourable members of the Imo State House of Assembly(IMHA) have been so cowed that they have become mere shadows while only the Speaker bears the fleeting semblance of legislative power instead of the cumulative strength of the entire 27 House members.
Unfortunately, the Speaker wields the said legislative power mostly against his own colleagues. Amaechi Nwoha, Ikenna Emeh and recently, Onuora Olumba and Ugochukwu Nzekwe all members of the IMHA are living witnesses to the exercise of crude “legislative power” by the Speaker.
The foursome may have learnt, though the hard way, that holding radically divergent political views with the House leadership, is a sure way to political limbo.
Today,consequently, the Imo State House of Assembly is largely peopled by “yes men” and a handful of pathetic grovellers.
Late last month, a number of these House members, in a House session, dared to voice their worries over the infrastructural inadequacies in their constituencies.
The Speaker was quick to lead them on by offering that there were better ways of getting works done instead of crying out to the Governor every now and then. He urged the House members to make use of their political weights as state legislators to get work done.
Apparently, this was a wise counsel but Dr Obioma Ekennia’s submission drew out the real premise behind the Speaker’s advise.
Ekennia had commended the Governor for awarding the contract for the construction of a major road in his Ezinihitte Mbaise constituency that led to the State Deputy Governor’s home but regretted that work has since stopped on the road due to poor funding. He thereafter lamented that sensitive road networks in his community have for a very long time remained untouched.
In the Speaker’s polite response, he described Ekennia’s submission as playing to the gallery for media attention. Reiterating that there are better ways of getting this work done beside reaching the Governor.
Unfortunately the Speaker did not offer such “better ways” but rather, jocularly asked the Honourable member to liaise with the clerk of the House and arrange for classes where he would tutor him on the alternative ways to getting legislative results, in the hope that ‘he may be a better representative of his people next time around’.
It was a polite dress-down designed to discourage other members that may wish to dwell on similar subjects.
Before Opiah, however, would begin to constitute himself and his members into a campaign organization for Governor Ikedi Ohakim, he should first critically appraise his last two years in the Imo State House of Assembly to see if he could even sell water in a desert land with his present public ratings.
Every state parliament should be able to provide the people with legislative protection and a sense of social security.
The Imo Assembly would happily pass the Entraco bill and not bother to monitor its activities. If they had to, they would vote for the ban of ‘Okada’ and would not think of a motion to cushion the impact of the ban which threw thousands into unemployment and rendered hundreds of motorcycle repairers jobless.
When last did the Imo Assembly ask questions about the running of Imo State. They dare not ask the Executive to explain why a contract captured in the budget would be abandoned midway for lack of fund. But would be quick to order a contractor back to site even if he had collected less than 10% of his contract sum.
What about price control? Market forces no longer determine prices of goods and services in our state but individuals. They would be quick to retort that it is the same all over the country. But should it be if our lawmakers were even slightly sensitive to the harsh realities on ground? Here, the buyer is at the mercy of the seller while in decent climes, a certain level of price hike amounts to swindle and criminal extortion punishable by law. In Imo, it does not really matter, because our lawmakers, who are supposed to be the ‘best’ in the country can afford to buy up any market. So who cares?
Our Honourable members would not consider it an issue of urgent public importance to demand explanations from the Ministry of Environment and Petroleum or from the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Petroleum why petroleum products are sold at relatively cheaper rates in neighbouring state while prices of the product in Imo continues to climb.
Within the areas we call Owerri today, Wetheral, Douglas, Tetlow, Royce, MCC and perhaps PortHarcourt roads; These are roads also plied by our revered Lawmakers in their sordid state, in spite of their celebrated passage of the bill establishing Imo Rural Road Maintenance Agency (IRROMA) which is said to operate in all the 27 LGAs in Imo state, the House still did not see the need to prevail on the Executive to rehabilitate these internal road networks to forestall the nasty traffic congestions that have become a regular feature of Owerri roads.
It took the visit of Mr. President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to Imo State to effect some overnight repairs on some of these roads. The crude work done would definitely not last a season as the emergency work done at PortHarcourt road did not even last a fortnight before peeling and exposing the sham of our leadership represents.
A lot of Imo people are disturbed with the ugly transformation that has become the Goodluck Opiah of today. And I wonder what happened to the once very fervent advocate of his people, who nearly came to tears trying to convey the suffering, exploitation, abuse and subjugation of the oil bearing communities of Imo State in the floor of the last Assembly. His noble drive gave birth to the Imo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ISOPADEC).
Unfortunately, these are changing times. With perhaps, a new song for a new governor.
Is Opiah suddenly taking his priorities downside-up? If not, he should have been able to ask questions about the 40% of the 13% oil derivation accruable to ISOPADEC that is yet unremitted to the commission by government. Perhaps, with a nest lavishly feathered by government, it is more convenient to feign ignorance.
What about the N40b bond? In his budget presentation, Governor Ohakim said it to Opiah’s face, “it is expected that the pursuit of the development of Oguta Wonder Lake Resort in partnership with the Legacy Group will gulp the Bond proceed of over N40 billion.”
Today, as the bond proceeds are gradually being accessed, new ideas are creeping in for the money as the expectations of the Oguta Wonder Lake Resort become a distant dream for the oil rich community. Yet our Honourable Speaker says everything is alright.
An American once wondered aloud, "what can we give to a nation that has given us so much!"
While in our small setting, we wonder what really our state and leaders have given to us inspite of all the bumper work package and bloated fringe benefits attached to public office.
Instead, in our state today, insecurity has attained an all time high culminating in the listing of Imo as an unsafe location by the American government. For the past three months, pipe borne water taps have dried up in the state while residents are endlessly enjoined to exercise patience. Power supply is a joke; housing is an elite agenda; transportation, a chaotic gamble; provision of gainful employment for teeming job seekers, a hazy dream as our politics continue to degenerate into desperation and paranoia. And our State Assembly, from their comfort zone proclaim that all is well!
Interestingly, the House recently surprised imolites when they suddenly enburdened themselves with an unsolicited probe of Governor Ikedi Ohakim. Beside being constitutional, this move should ordinarily have elicited commendation but all it has generated so far is doubt and suspicion over the real intentions of the House.While the Imo Assembly is literally bending backwards to dramatize the said probe, some of their members were busy scripting pathetic news commentaries that reeked of helpless adulation of the same Governor they are purportedly probing. One therefore wonders how a lawmaker who has paid and sponsored a news commentary to hype the Governor, be able to deliberate on issues concerning the Governor without bias.
In any case, they have gotten the attention they yearn. And now Imo people and indeed, the entire Nigeria are watching.
Ironically, the Speaker and his members may be solely interested in the “peaceful” working relationship between the Legislature and the Executives. So they always say.
Hence, before you even ask them their achievements as a parliament, they would have resounded it that they achieved “peaceful” co-existence with the Executive. And so what? In whose interest?
They are all making so much out of the ‘peaceful’ coexistence between the House and the Executive. Yet none of the 27 members of the State Parliament had it as one of their agenda in their campaign manifestoes.
A vivid illustration of ‘peaceful’ coexistence between the Imo state Legislature and the Executive is, going cap-in-hand to the Governor and begging for a ‘piece of the action’.
The house should realize that Imo people have out-grown this brand of politics and understands the so-called ‘peaceful’ coexistence for what it is - a self-serving, stomach-inspired ideology.
If I had to say it directly to them, it would go this way: “Gentlemen and Ladies, you were not elected to get us ‘peace’ but to get us justice. Whatever ‘peace’ you are talking about is no peace without justice".
This is on the understanding that “Peace is not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of justice" (MLK).
Peace is a subject that can easily be sentimentalized but no matter how emotional or even hysterical the House may get about it, what the people really want is justice. Justice in superintending over the use of public fund, justice in service delivering, justice in addressing issues of infrastructure and social security and justice in all sphere of life as it affects the electorate.
Be that as it may, we are not ignorant of the devices of the enemies of the state. While Mr Speaker chants Ohakim’s eulogies and campaign for his second term in office, Imo people are not deceived that the only agendum for the House members today, is their political ambition for the next political dispensation.
Now they are willing to raise a racket over their commitment to either swim or sink with Ohakim in his bid for a renewed mandate. Yet they all have their live-jackets incase the water turns turbulent. Some have even taken out accident insurance polices with other political organizations incase of the unexpected.
So when the House postulates about ‘peaceful’ coexistence with the Executives and the Speaker sings about Ohakim’s second tenure, Imo people are not deceived for they know the difference between lawmaking and noisemaking.
ogechi steve <hellomacholi@yahoo.com>
