South/Jos East Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the
House of Representatives between 2007 and 2015 speaks
on his experience among other national issues. Excerpts:
Having been in the National Assembly since 2007 to 2015,
have you reflected on the journey and would you say that
your constituency, Jos South/Jos East is better now than
you met it?
It is better for my constituents to answer for me as
reflecting whether the constituency is better than I met it. I
believe that in the last eight years that I represented the Jos
South/Jos East federal constituency, I had done my best to
make issues bothering our people more known than they
were when I stepped in.
So what are your next plans after your time in the House?
I remain in active politics; I don’t really have a defined plan
for me because man proposes God disposes. In the course
of the evolution of Nigeria’s political, democratic experience,
a lot of things are going to happen. This is the first time we
are going to have a ruling party in the history of Nigeria all
of a sudden becoming an opposition party. I hope to play a
role in ensuring the PDP regains its feet. We have a group of
members who have left parliament who believe that we
should not leave the PDP and that we should support all
organs of the party from the national to the state, to the
local government even the wards in giving courage, in
assuring the party that no matter how bad things look, we
will remain and salvage whatever is left of the party. So, for
the immediate days to come, I will engage myself in that
wise and you never can really tell what God has for it is only
He alone that knows but I can assure you of my
commitment to developing the party to continuously
represent issues that matter to my constituency even after
leaving office.
I may not be a member of the House, but I will still be a
citizen and native of this constituency, so whatever bothers
the Jos South/Jos East constituency, Plateau North and
Plateau state if not the whole nation, I am free to speak
about and I guarantee you, I will continue to do that.
What do you see as the major challenges facing the 8th
Assembly?
Now, as to the challenges of the 8th Assembly, it is rather
unfortunate the high replacement rate that we have after
elections. Legislative work is not learnt in the classroom; it
is a job you learn with your hands on the desk and you don’t
learn with experience overnight, it takes time. The trainings,
the exposures, the experiences gathered by members over
the years once more will be lost. But it is not totally bad
because I have been in a country like Nigeria and like a
constituency I come from, where if not for zoning in the first
place, I wouldn’t have gone there. So certainly, if I came, I
should be willing to make space for another person to go.
So, whereas we want legislators to remain but we cannot
take our eyes from the fact that this is Nigeria with so many
tribes, so many diversities, sometimes we just have to
tolerate things a bit.
The 8th assembly is going to have serious problems and I
will compare it with the 4th assembly in 1999 when
Obasanjo came on board. The 8th assembly will work with a
President who has never been subject to legislative powers.
He had ruled as a Military Head of State, he ruled in the PTF
without being subjected to oversight. For a man of over 70
years all of a sudden be subjected to questions by people he
literary gave birth to is not going to be an easy experience
and I have repeatedly pleaded with my colleagues that as
they take seat, they must bend backward for General Buhari
but he too must gear up, he must brace up and ensure that
he understands the workings of legislature, the workings of
parliament and that the wheel of lawmaking by nature does
not roll very fast, it takes time.
He needs to understand that he cannot do them without the
support of the National Assembly, it is not possible.
What were your challenges and do you have any regrets in
your eight years of service?
I am not sure I have any regrets, since the question was
asked, I have been thinking, I am not really sure I have any
regrets and yes, I had challenges and I almost lost my life in
this job and there were several times I went through life
threatening situations because of the work, but whatever
people think makes me a hero at home makes me villain
outside and whatever make people so happy with me
because of what I did; makes another person feels so angry.
You must stand for something, if you stand with good; evil
will fight you, if you stand for evil, naturally, good will fight
you. I had stood for something and not everyone wants it,
that is the challenge but that is the nature of the job and that
is why I say yes, I might have offended people but I never
woke up one day and deliberately plotted to offend anybody.