•harps on integrity, unity, equity among members
•unhappy over plights of past lawmakers
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Patricia Etteh on Wednesday urged members of the 10th Assembly to cooperate with the incoming speaker in the bid to discharge their constitutional functions.
Etteh who gave the charge during the valedictory programme organised for members of the 9th session of the 9th Assembly, also stressed the need for incoming members to be united in purpose and discharge their functions with utmost integrity.
“My dear colleagues, it is only simple when an election is held, some people are bound to win, some people are bound to drop. I don’t want to use the word lose. Those of you that won the election either to the Senate, remember that the House of Representatives is the House of the Representatives of Nigeria. And when you go there, please still behave the way you are behaving here. Continue to keep the flag flying.
“For those of you that are coming back, I pray God Almighty would continue to hold you and you must always represent the House very well.
“For those of us that didn’t make it back, may I advise you that this is not the end of the world. I heard one of our Brothers when he said they don’t know what tomorrow holds, I can only tell you that you should not lose hope. The God of yesterday is the God of today and tomorrow. And I want to pray for you that as you are going into the world, your tomorrow would be better than today in Jesus’ name.
“Mr Speaker and the people that are coming for the 10th Assembly, I want to give you a little assignment, which I believe may be during my tenure I would have been able to achieve. We should not forget that we are practising the presidential system of government, where your major job is the budget of the nation.
“You must do everything humanly possible to make sure that you achieve that and you take it and you work on it. It is the only work of the House of Reps, not the Senate. The Senate has its own, we have our own. Therefore, stamp your authority and make sure we do what is needed.
“It is never too late, anytime you start something, please ensure you see it to the end. Ensure you fight for your right. Nobody can fight for you. It is only you that can fight for yourself. So, ensure that you do that.
“Then secondly, I am still looking for the opportunity when I would see a female sitting on the chair of Mr Speaker. I have some capable hands here. Please if they are applying for this seat, support them. I know that they would do well. But I know that God will be with all of you.
“The simple logic about this House is, we must work together. Forget about the fact that you are from a constituency or you are from a State. Once you are here, you have become a national body and you must act like that. You must work together as a team. You must ensure that what belongs to A gets to A. That is the only way you can become one person.
“Not only that. The issue of first among equals is very important. Yes, the speaker is your speaker. I was once your speaker and we were just first among equals. Cooperate with the incoming speaker to ensure that at least, you achieve your goal.
“If you cannot start on a full and peaceful note, it is a little bit difficult for you to achieve anything. Why you are so happy today and thanking God is because you have a very good leader who believes in unity and teamwork and he did that throughout his tenure.
“I really congratulate you and I want to welcome the new ones that are coming too, that you should do the same. You that you have been here, I am aware you have some that have even stayed here up to 24 years. So it is not the responsibility of the speaker alone. It is the responsibility of all of you that have been here to put the due commas through all the workings of the parliament.
“But don’t take advantage of them. You should realize that when they are coming like that, they are usually in numbers more than some of us that are returning. Therefore, just take it upon yourself to make sure that you train them fast, so they can get to their destination. And also ensure that the workings of the National Assembly is very important and you must do it diligently with integrity in such a way that you would be able to raise your head and say that you belong to the number of people they counted as representatives of the National Assembly.
“I want to appeal to each and every one of you that you remember those ones that are leaving. Don’t leave them behind. They have no other ministry than the National Assembly. Make sure you remember them when you come back, accommodate them and ensure they are well taken care of. That is the only way you would not be losing people fast.
“I remember when we finished, some of our colleagues were even coming and begging for one thing or the other. It is not too good. We must be our brothers’ keepers. We must work together. We must accommodate them and please ensure you do your legislative job diligently. I wish you the very best,” she said.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then