Nigerians are however not buying it and understandably so. Rather than show empathy with the thousands of people who lost jobs during the economic crunch, the distinguished senators were worrying about brand new Prado Jeeps and increased constituency budgets. Expectedly, the masses felt betrayed.
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Admittedly, the senate, or the legislative arm of government as a whole have several flaws but that should in no way drive the levels of hysteria and outrage we are beginning to witness, to the extent that there are unscrupulous calls to even scrap them entirely.
It is worth knowing that there can be no proper democracy without a virile and independent, yet cooperative, legislature.
Whatever their faults maybe, we must be careful not conflate the persons who represent the various constituencies with the institution of the national assembly. Men and women come and go, but the institutions outlive them.
It is against this backdrop that I recently published an article “Does Lagos Enjoy Credible Representation at the Senate?”, in a bid to stimulate and deepen the debate around the quality of our representation and the yardstick in measuring the outcomes of such representation.
It is my firm believe that the more involve we are in the true roles of legislative business; we will be better equipped to hold them accountable for their stewardship.
Worthy of note, is that the core responsibility of legislators is not project execution but in effective law making, diligent oversight and quality representation. To judge a legislator based on the number of ‘tapes they cut’ will be akin to judging a bird by its ability to swim.
Having said that, I strongly believe that only one of the three senators representing Lagos state deserve another chance in the coming elections and here is why; Senator Gbenga Ashafa is arguably the only one of the three senators who have pursue strategically important legislative bills.
One of such Bill is the Nigerian Railway Bill, which established the frame work for private sector participation in providing rail services, as well as standards and regulations.
He has continued to defend the federal governments proposed spending on railways on the floor of the senate so much so that he is now nick named the Rail man. His incredible legislative support and continuous defend of the executive budget has birthed a situation that will see private sector funds flow into the railway sector and hasten the completion of several strategic rail networks like the Lagos to Ibadan Kano rail.
Such a bill could pass off as being just yet another bill on the surface, but its economic value is quite limitless. It would ease up the movement of goods across the country at a far cheaper rates there by dropping prices of food and consumer goods across the country.
It would also aid the facilitation of trade across several region of the country and create more access to markets for small holder farmers. If properly followed through with robust policies from the executive, this bid could become the ‘sine qua non’ of an economic renaissance.
This is not to say the other two senators have not performed fairly, however, the ambition of Senator Olamilekan Solomon to be governor of Ogun state has been a total distraction that has even alienated the people of his immediate constituency who feel like an afterthought.
A senator should fully represent and in this case Senator Yayi is found wanting. Senator Remi Tinubu, though brilliant and experienced, has allowed personal grievances, particularly with the senate leadership to get in the way of her legislative business. Little wonder why most of her brilliant initiatives were shut down prematurely.
Moreso, it does seem like she has been unable to build the right bridges with other senators across the country which has also seen her lose support on certain important proposals she chose to champion.
Finally, the various political parties must put forward candidates that will genuinely pursue the interest of Lagosians and the people, not political God fathers should be the sole determinat of those who return to the senate. We must therefore observe, participate and most important, come out to vote.
Ayodele Adio writes from Lagos
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