A failed 7th Senate

In effect they liberalized corruption to the extent that smuggling, bunkering, kidnapping, armed robbery, operation of illegal refineries, hijacking petroleum products, book, video and music piracy, importation of expired drugs, pension scams and treasury looting became the norm. A corrupt and docile National Assembly ensured that Jonathan himself had no apprehension of being removed from […]

In effect they liberalized corruption to the extent that smuggling, bunkering, kidnapping, armed robbery, operation of illegal refineries, hijacking petroleum products, book, video and music piracy, importation of expired drugs, pension scams and treasury looting became the norm.
A corrupt and docile National Assembly ensured that Jonathan himself had no apprehension of being removed from office no matter how much the Constitution was violated, citizen’s rights were trampled on, or due processes ignored. However Jonathan alone is not to blame because PDP’s failure was not only of the Executive, but also of the Legislature. Outgoing Senate President David Mark has reserved his place in Nigerian political history. Despite being part and parcel of various ruinous military regimes, whose visionless dictatorships stunted our development and pauperized our nation, he rose almost to the pinnacle of elective office under a democratic dispensation. Older and hopefully wiser now, the man who said telephones aren’t meant for the poor and that army sergeants have better leadership qualities than graduates squandered the opportunity to re-invent himself as a statesman.
Brigadier-General David Mark (rtd) is a prime example of how military adventurism, unconstitutionality, and election rigging, can lead to inordinate rewards in Nigeria. Although he can’t be begrudged his position as Senate President, the truth is that his modus operandi left a lot to be desired and his tenure was not a success. His lengthy stay as Senate President was simply a product of our warped political progress. In years to come students will marvel at how we could imagine the nation would make any significant democratic progress with a Senate of lazy intellects presided over by an un-progressive military politician.
The outgoing 7th Senate is a case in point.  With just one legislative sitting remaining there were 506 bills pending. According to the Senate’s Bill progression chart, almost six hundred Bills were introduced between June 2011 and May 2015, and the majority of them remain unattended to. The first ever Bill in the life of the 7th Senate was the National Project Monitoring Bill introduced on June 28th 2011, and quite incredulously it was “due” for second reading four years later on May 22nd 2015. Although the Constitution states that the Senate must sit for 181 days annually to make a total of 724 legislative sittings in the life of a Senate, under Mark’s leadership from 2011 to date there isn’t a single year in which the stipulated number of sittings was met.  It comes as no surprise they failed to attend to more than 20% of the Bills introduced for consideration. Senators appear oblivious to the contempt in which the public holds them. Despite failing woefully to solve any of the nations pressing problems they enrich themselves and live a life of luxury. Even though they failed to meet the stipulated number of sittings, outgoing Senators will receive handsome payoffs in the region of six million naira each, and the Senate President tried to arrange life pension for himself as a reward for this failure!
 Although legislators represent less than 0.000005% of our population they feel no compunction in budgeting 25% of the nation’s wealth for themselves. Despite this they ignore the long and tortuous process of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, design and implementation of solutions and concentrate on financially rewarding constituency projects and oversight functions. The suspect academic qualification of many Senators explains why they lack the patience and intellect to withstand the rigors of the lengthy debates involved in proper law making.
Senators reveal their superficiality by proposing a “State of Emergency” whenever faced with a problem despite the fact that declaration of a “State of Emergency” (motion without movement) hasn’t ameliorated the dismal security or electricity situations. What the nation requires from the incoming Senate isn’t emergency solutions but a well-thought out laws which will be enforced to address fundamentals, and provide practicable solutions. In the recently concluded federal elections one of the most important reasons why the electorate was convinced the All Progressives Congress (APC) represented change was that its three leading lights, President Muhammadu Buhari, Party Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and Party Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,   were never members of the PDP. At the state level the APC disappointed many supporters by appointing “decamped” PDP members into senior government positions. At the federal level many have expressed their reservations about the next Senate Presidency. One name in particular is causing concern.  If Mark retains the post of Senate President, it would negate the change mantra that is sweeping the nation. A confirmed conservative, he is not known to have sympathy for the masses or be progressive in his political philosophy. Apart from being a PDP stalwart he has many skeletons in the cupboard. Party loyalty and consistency in political stance must be made to stand for something in Nigeria. Although President Buhari said he wouldn’t influence the election of a Senate President and would work with anyone, it’s imperative that the next Senate President is also an agent of change that would ensure that the Senate meets up with its sitting requirements, abandons money making ventures and enacts progressive laws.