By Dele Afelumo
Our country is in such a dire strait at this time. It is not unconnected with the policies that our amiable President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, marshaled when he was inaugurated to tame the monsters of economic quagmires the country found itself.
To all keen watchers of events in the country, all the policies are capable of transforming our country from the economic doldrums we presently are in into that Nigeria of our dream, where citizens can heave a sigh of relief from abject poverty, joblessness, insecurity, and other knotty challenges which have retarded our growth for many decades.
Behind the clouds and a roving specter of ill feelings is a silver lining on the horizon. All those lofty transformational goals will be a mirage if our elected representatives at all levels – executive, legislative, and judiciary – are not working harmoniously for the Nigeria of our dreams. This is the time political intrigues, shenanigans, and unnecessary melancholy should be avoided to engender peace and stability in our polity and bring the ever-elusive dividends of democracy to all and sundry in our dear country.
No other arm of government ably demonstrates cerebral depositions and articulation of ideas than the legislature. Whatsoever may rock the boat of that arm of government must be avoided at all costs. Through brilliant articulation of debates on topical issues, without taking recourse to false syllogisms, dirty intrigues, horse-trading, and jejune inanities, a lot of achievements will be recorded. That will also translate to enacting good laws that will have bright prospects for our citizens and birth a new dawn for our people.
When rumors were rife that some distinguished senators were alleged to be considering an impeachment plan on the leadership of the hallowed chamber if the Senate, I just pensively contorted my head in a soliloquy that we have traveled along that devious and famished pathway in the past. It occurred to me that this is another rat race and a deja vu with all the imprimaturs of disenchantment, pettiness, parochialism, and selfishness festooning it. No sane individual does the same thing repeatedly and expects a different result.
Since 1999, that hallowed chamber has been a conclave of caucuses where a lot of melodrama had taken place – just in desperate attempts to grab power. From Evans Enwerem to that political titan, Chuba Okadigbo, then Adolphus Wabara, with only some semblance of relative stability during the presidency of Senator David Mark.
Impeachment of the leadership should be the very last consideration after a facie evidence of insouciance, infractions, or criminality has been thoroughly established – without which, it amounts to unjust persecution with political undertones.
Committees and caucuses should rather focus on all efforts at churning out laws with meaningful impacts on Nigerians.
It is apt and trite to note that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. So, any instability in the legislature portends grave dangers for our democracy and the dividends inherent in it will further not reach the people who elected these lawmakers as their representatives in the two legislative chambers. A house divided against itself shall not stand the wiles and tide of time.
At every twist and turn, distinguished senators should endeavor to map out strategies towards strengthening our democracy and jettison all those personal ambitions that may reverse the gains we have made since 1999. In any establishment, there will always be a Judas. So, all you distinguished senators should not let that single Judas torpedo the avalanche of goodwill, commendations, and love that our people generously bestowed on you for the tenacity and commitment that you have so far demonstrated since you were inaugurated.
Let that cauldron of bellicosity break and the poisonous chalice of angst scatter and strive to work assiduously in unity to confront our gargantuan problems like Trojan horses. Through your thoroughly debated bills, you all can clean our Augean stable and create that paradisiacal ambiance in our country that all the citizens yearn for.
I was quite ecstatic having an urbane, cerebral, and articulate achiever in the person of Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio superintend over the Senate at this time. His uncommon transformations in Akwa Ibom State, when he held sway as the state’s helmsman, spoke volumes and he has etched his name in gold due to his landmark achievements, which are still reference points till today. He has left an indelible mark on the sand of time in Akwa Ibom State and other areas of our national polity. He has all that it takes to preside very well to the admiration of all senators and Nigerians of all persuasions.
He is a bridge-builder, who will use his years of experience to weld together our fault lines and ensure a peaceful atmosphere, not only in the Senate, but in the country as a whole. This is the time to eschew all bitterness, pettiness, jealousy, and quest for positions, and resolve to serve the common interests of our electorate. Through that, you will be writing your names in gold, calming the stormy and tempestuous ocean for the ship of Nigeria to berth smoothly. I pray God Almighty will be with you all.
•Afelumo is a United Kingdom, UK-based physician.
