Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said that
his greatest fear is not political battles or controversies, but not
leaving a lasting legacy which will impact positively on the lives of
Nigerians.
He made the revelation during an interview with NIGERIA NOW Magazine in
Abuja.
When asked what he would consider his greatest challenge since he became
Speaker, he stated that problems will always occur, and as leaders, such
problems should always be dealt with.
“I tell people that one of the things God has developed real well in me is
to remove fear from me, I fear nothing.
He stated that the only thing that frightens him is if the Eighth House
of Representatives, which he leads, is unable to leave landmark
achievements.
“The only thing that frightens me is if this Eighth Assembly which, by
virtue of the grace of God, I have been called to lead, is unable to leave
landmark achievements; that is what bothers me and prevents me from
sleeping. At times, I begin to think about what it is that we have
achieved, done wrong or could have done better? What is the next line of
things we can do for the betterment of the lives and living conditions of
our people?…..This is going to be 2 years, what can we really say we
have done that has bettered the lot of Nigerians? What will be our place
when the history of this country is written?”
“Those are the issues that prevent one from sleeping, really, as against
political battles with individuals or thinking about next elections –
those are not the issues at all.
” I bother a lot about where we are leading this House to and what it is
we can achieve in both parliament and in government, because we are
running the same government. If Buhari fails; all of us have failed,
because it is one government and we cannot extricate ourselves.”
The Speaker, who also revealed that he occasionally writes advisory memos
to the Presidency, stressed the importance of working as one irrespective
of party affiliations and positions occupied, in order to make the current
administration succeed in its efforts to better the lot of Nigerians.
“Sometimes I sit down, craft memos by myself and take it to the Executive;
it is not my responsibility, the government has its own advisers, but I
fear a lot about the place this government will occupy in history. All of
us will be involved in that history, none of us will run away whether you
just a member, a leader, a Chairman of a Committee, whoever you are it is
our government, it doesn’t even matter which political party you belong
to, it is one government and we are all involved. So the point is what is
the legacy we are leaving behind? What are we achieving? That’s the thing
that gives me nightmares sometimes.”
The 8th House under Dogara has been hailed as being proactive – with
interventions in areas including pensions, labour disputes and youth
development, the introduction of sectoral debates, efforts towards
economic diversification and tackling recession, the review of obsolete
laws and a record number of over 100 bills passed in the first year of his
tenure alone.