The outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila had decried that many young Nigerians have lost hope in the system and are leaving the country in droves to seek their fortunes in other lands.
Gbajabiamila stated this during the valedictory session of the 9th House on Wednesday in Abuja at the National Assembly complex.
According to him, if this trend must be stopped, a healthy vigorous growing economy that would provide opportunities for all who work hard to succeed through their labour and ingenuity.
He also observed that adequate security must also be provided to protect the lives and property of the people.
He said: “Despite the considerable investments we have made to improve our public infrastructure and the numerous reforms we have enacted to change how we administer the government, our country faces many significant challenges.
“These challenges have caused many of our fellow citizens to wonder if the promise of democracy will ever become real in their lives. Too many of our young people have lost faith entirely and are choosing in droves to seek their fortunes and their futures in other lands. We are losing some of our best and brightest, and if we don’t act now, the consequences of this loss will shortly become painfully evident.
“How do we ensure a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides opportunities for all who work hard to succeed through their labour and ingenuity? How do we protect our people from the marauders and insurgents, the petty criminals and assorted villains who wish to harm them, whether for profit or in service of other agendas? How do we restore faith in our young people so that so many of them no longer feel like the only way to achieve their best aspirations is to chase their fortunes in far away, often hostile lands? These are the critical questions all of us in government must answer or risk the unforgiving judgment of history. With each new day, we have an opportunity to make the hard choices and take the necessary actions to guarantee our nation’s future. With each new day, we have less time to act and a more outstanding obligation to act quickly”.
Gbajabiamila also highlighted the many feats of the 9th House which has resulted in many legislative legacies which includes the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Nigeria Start-Up Act, Electoral Act, constitutional review process, financial independence for State Houses of Assembly and State judiciary, as well as successful interventions in labour disputes.
Others achievements of the House according to him are the January to December budget cycle, the Petroleum Industry Act and the Police Act amongst others.
“These reforms did not end police misbehaviour in our country; soon enough, there was a national reckoning. We responded by working with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to establish a new framework of accountability to hold erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct in the performance of their duties and compel the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to take responsibility for the failures of training and discipline that leads to such wrongful conduct.
“And we appropriated the sum of Five Hundred Million Naira through the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to compensate victims of police brutality nationwide.
“I sincerely hope that the work of police reform will continue in the House of Representatives until we achieve a system of policing that meets our nation’s needs and reflects the best of us”, he said.
He lamented the inability to remove constitutional barriers that have stood in the way of women’ participation in the politics.
He therefore urged the incoming 10th house of Representatives to do their best in removing some of the constitutional barriers that have long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of the country.
“To succeed in our shared ambition of building a prosperous and peaceful country, we must do everything within our power to ensure that our daughters and those yet to be born can grow up in a more open, more equal society than their mothers did.
“Unfortunately, we did not succeed in removing some of the constitutional barriers that have long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of our nation. This issue must continue to be at the fore of our national conversations. I hope the 10th House of Representatives will take up the mantle and do better than we did”, he added.
Speaker Gbajabiamila who has just been appointed as the Chief Of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, assure that he will work to ensure a good relationship between the executive and legislature, while respecting the independence of the legislature.
“This fundamental belief in the responsibility of government to be a force for good has been my guiding light. It will continue to be so in my new endeavours. I humbly ask for your prayers and support in this new chapter.
“I assure you that in this new role, I will work to ensure a cordial and productive relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government whilst respecting the independence and prerogatives of the legislature.
“The 9th House of Representatives is ending, and the 10th will shortly be convened. All of us, those whose time in office is ending, and those for whom duty continues, will face the judgment of history. I urge you to keep this in mind and let your actions be guided by the desire to ensure that you are not found wanting by man or God in the final judgment”, he said.
This valedictory session brings to an end the 9th House which adjorned Sine Die.
Come June 13 which is approximately less than 7days from today, the 10th Assembly would be inaugurated by the president and commander in chief of the armed forces, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, marking the beginning of the new legislative year which would run for the next 4 years.
It is expected that the 10th House of Representatives would keep up the works of the 9th House, improve on the work already and increase legislation.
