By Abbanaobi-Eku Onyekachukwu
The former President of the Senate, Sen. David Mark, has faulted the removal of fuel subsidy in the country, without immediate palliatives and other economic programmes put in place, saying that it has brought untold hardship on the people.
He equally charged the government to fight rising insecurity, inherited from the past governments, which according to him has over the time, been negatively affecting the economy, by preventing farmers from going to the farms.
Mark made the remarks at the on-going Leadership Retreat in Akwa Ibom State.
The former Senate President further decried the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) to float the Naira, saying it has resulted in all sorts of hardship, and reduced the spending power of the ordinary Nigerian.
However, he reminded government to live up to its campaign promises and to make good laws for peace, order and good government.
Rminding them the persistent problems of religious conflicts, high crime rate, unemployment, farmer/herder clashes, banditry and terrorism, food shortage, insufficient and decaying infrastructure, out-of-school children, as well as poor health facilities, were the challenges facing them, he said reminded the lawmakers that even though they were not the creation of the legislators, yet people expect them to find solutions to them.
To address these problems, he said they must set progressive-looking legislative agenda, even as he added that they have to be innovative and think and act outside of the box.
“It cannot be business as usual. The agenda must show in clear and concrete terms how to address the issues facing the nation.
“It must respond to critical national issues like growing the economy, job creation, insecurity, rule of law, food security, anti-corruption etc. Furthermore, it must show the synergy between the legislative agenda and the executive programmes.
“You must honestly debate government policies to see the merits and the demerits without party sentiments.
“Above all, you should have committees that will vigorously oversight Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“You should therefore ensure that your standing committees are properly equipped in its composition to do its work.
“Even though you may have majority in the house, you still need the cooperation of the members of the other political parties for the smooth running of the house. This collaboration could be both formal and informal”.
