By Emeka Udo Olaka
That nation’s upper legislature chamber (Senate) has witnessed unprecedented transformational giant strides due to the legislative vibrancy of the leader is neither a chimera, hyperbole nor mere chichi of words. Senator Godswill Akpabio, braced the role of the Senate president fully prepared, as he left nobody in doubt about whether he would outshine his predecessors.
The bubbling and effervescent senator with great and uncommon legislative activism in action, deeds and words has actually shut his critics, debunking most of the fears, suspicions and oblique askance hitherto harboured by some of those political gadflies who out of callousness and sheer envy and hatred unleash vituperative vitriol against whoever that is not in their Political umbrella.
For clearer grasping or proper understanding of the purport of this discourse, it is expedient or germane for us to digress a little bit, by having a cursory look at the Legislative arm of the government visa-vis the oversight functions on the other arms of the government.
The Legislature is that arm of government responsible for making the laws of a given society. They initiate and pass bills which eventually after the president’s accent become law.Apart from making laws, there is one crucial and essential duty of the legislature which many people feign ignorant of.
It is the oversight function. The legislative arm acts as checks and balances on the other arms of the government. The role of the National Assembly in checkmating the activities of say, the executive is a key role that makes or mar the progress of any democratic setting. Equally, the ability of the senate to curtail the excesses of the executive is dependent on the quality of the leadership of the Senate.
Has the Senate President the gusto, temerity, bravery and audacity to confront or stand on his rights against any form of executive whimsical manipulations and exploitative eccentricities?According to Thomas Jefferson,” Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
It means that people that are saddled with executive positions, sometimes may veer owing to their ingrained culture of exaggerated self-esteem; self- opinionating and be loss of self-control put up actions that are abhorrent to the democratic, economic and socio-cultural ethos of the nation.
The President himself is not immune or exonerated from these executive exuberance and brazen arbitrariness. We have witnessed in many occasions where Ministers, Directors-General, Heads of parastatals were summoned by the National Assembly to defend or explain some actions or policies that were inconsistent or incongruous in the Acts establishing its operations.
Equally evident are many scenarios where the Senate rejected some proposals, or alleged impositions to the nation at large. Having dilated much on the role of the Legislature as a crucial arm of the government, it is now easier for one to understand where we are going or better still, the making of the Senate President (Akpabio) of the nation’s 10th National Assembly. During the build-up to the 2023 Election, Senator Akpabio was very reticent and reserved at campaign foria.
He was very circumspect in making outlandish promises, and eschewing some of the usual campaign gimmicks and political shenanigans to woo the electorate which is usually the characteristic feature of many of our pseudo political leaders. No sooner than later, had some political analysts misconstrued his compos mentis to brute ignorance of the game and naiveness. While some pundits were already abacinated by sceptism and undue generalization based on the failure and leadership deficits of others, I was confident in Senator Akpabio. I simply convinced some of the people that mattered in the process that Akpabio is just one Politician that is not given to unproductive loquacity but would definitely perform when the chips were down.
A man whose political ideology is encapsulated in one popular Latin maxim” justicia omnibus, meaning Justice for all.A leader who do not segregate on the basis of ethnicity, tribe, religion, creed, or any other sentimental hogwash.These aforementioned attributes have amply been exhibited in the overall conduct of his legislative duties.
Many have attested to his diligence and astuteness in the smooth and swift passages of Bills. Equity and fairness have been employed immensely in this direction to reflect the linguistic, cultural and religious diversities of the country. Use
Also glaring, is the amity between the Executive arm and the Legislative arm which has enhanced accelerated implementation of Bills and other vital development policies and programmes in the nation’s grope for greatness.Akpabio is a fiery leader whose legislative vibrancy and activism has translated immensely to purposeful transformative leadership in the Nigerian Senate, culminating in what some political scholars have termed as the “Pathway To Nigerian Greatness”.
