News:
Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila
June 10, 2022
Speaker of the National Assembly, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila has said many lawmakers are not aware that the Legislative arm of government is the most important of the government architecture in any democracy.
According to him many of them have been made to understand that the most important arm of government is the Executive arm and this has been even contested in advance democracies as it has the most enduring and impactful.
House of Representative Speaker further underscored the need to understand and recognise the wealth of their role, “it’s when you begin to make the kind of impact that is required of you, as the framers of our constitution envisage, whether written or not written the role that is required of us”.
And further called for the understanding of the reason why they exist and their role has been debated over and over again and hope the ECOWAS Parliament would begin to set the pace for that better understanding their role in any democracy.
He made this remarks on Thursday, June 9, 2022 when he address the Community Parliament at the opening of this year’s Ordinary Session in Abuja-Nigeria.
And as a result of parliamentary diplomacy Nigeria has been able to resolves issues that the Executive arm of government were unable to resolve because between parliaments to Parliaments a lot can be achieve.
For example South Africa during the Xenophobia ere, they did it in Ghana on trade issue Nigerian traders in Ghana facing challenges and Ukraine, Russia war where they had their students there the chairman of foreign Affairs Committee was able to work out to bring students in Ukraine back home.
“We did it with dispatch you might, sometimes you need draw the line you recognise your role as the representative of the people you do not strict junket yourself into just making laws, sometimes you go beyond that we should start thinking outside the box”.
Despite the different cultures we should work together and he believes that is pertaining in the Community parliament, they speak different languages here and have to use translators when someone is speaking English, French and Portuguese.
There is one langue which is the development of the African continent language of democracy this are things, that we should hold on to and I believes because of the integration process is about cooperation by the time, “we celebrate 50 years of this parliament I believe everybody should be able to speak each other’s language, we need to start learning now”
The level of discussion in the Community Parliament whenever the Community Parliamentarians come and leave, it’s something they always tap into and should not be taken as a formality of sitting they come out with the necessary legislative input and impact to assist their individual countries and collectively the role of the parliamentarian.
And when lawmakers speak with one voice as a sub region and continent they can achieve more results, and in this direction several speakers of African parliaments have come together to set up an association of Conference of speakers of African Parliaments which goes beyond the sub region.
“I believe with this collaboration among us would achieve results certainly Africa and West Africa have come of age how do we dot the I’s and cross the T’s to take us to where we should be?”
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Abuja-Nigeria