No going back on single term proposal –Emordi

Posted by admin Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Presidency Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Her appointment as the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly was adjudged one of the most appropriate appointments made by President Goodluck Jonathan, simply because of her track record in politics and most especially in the nation’s upper chambers, the Senate where she was known as “The Joy of the Senate.”

Senator Joy Emordi, in a chat with Daily Sun spoke on her new job, the National Assembly and her plan to ensure that the Executive and the Legislature experience the best of relationship during her time as the middle person.

She also spoke about the single tenure proposal of President Jonathan and why Nigerians should not be in a hurry to discard it. GEOFFREY ANYANWU presents the excerpts

New position
Well, let me say that I feel challenged. But one cheering news is that I am facing a task which I know so well how to execute. I feel I’m operating on a familiar terrain. So, I’m in my natural habitat. Let me say that I am not going to take things for granted, even though it is my natural environment.

I would strategize well to ensure that I achieve my aim which is to build strong and harmonious relationship between the legislature and executive because we have an agenda. The agenda is the transformation of this country, transformational agenda of Mr. President, which you know we can’t achieve without all hands working together. A lot of bills will need to be sponsored to push the agenda, and it is my responsibility to ensure that such bills come to bear, and that they are given steady treatment in order to achieve that transformation agenda for the betterment of all of us.

Again, such harmonious relationship must be based on respect, mutual trust and patriotism. I don’t want any arm to see itself as us and them, the other arm as; we and they, no. I want the new relationship to be referred to as us.

Then, there were a lot of frictions between the executive and the legislature. But this one, is going to be different, and I’m going to use a lot of prayers to support my efforts, because I will not like to fail Mr. President who is my boss, since he had that confidence that I would do the job effectively before appointing me.

So, I am doubling my efforts to ensure that I achieve that. That is; that trust must be well deserved. So, I’m working, strategizing, repositioning the office for the greater task ahead, and I am happy that my former constituency is giving me a lot of support. That’s the National Assembly.

Jonathan’s agenda
I have a lot of confidence in the transformation agenda of Mr. President, because he is trying to execute it selflessly. He’s not putting himself into it for his own selfish interest. No. The transformation agenda of our government is unique, in that no single area is targeted. So the government is looking at all the sectors including security. He mentioned Boko Haram including poverty, power failure. They are so many; you know our problems in this country are multi-faceted. Before, we used to have 7-point agenda, but in this regime, there is noting like that.

The agenda is to transform the entire sectors and move from what it used to be to what it should really be for the betterment of the people. That is one unique thing about that. He’s not limited to a particular problem because all the problems are serious problems. We are not limiting treatment to only one of it, but to almost all of them at the same time.

So, I am very confident. You can see that the President is working with mostly experts in various fields. The other day, he set up a committee to look at the Boko Haram issue, and then he set up another committee to look at other sectors. After all these committees will be rolled together to find the right course for the solution of those various problems. So, I’m very confident that the transformation agenda of the regime would be achieved.

On my own, I have already started repositioning my office because I’ve been there. I know what we need in order to build up the trusts of the senators. Those people are honestly patriotic people because in the National Assembly, you see everybody wanting to bring changes in their own constituencies. So, if we are able to mobilize what they need for their constituencies and with the available resources build them in and then build harmonious relationship that will be built on trust, good communication between the legislature and the President, it will happen when they have communication and dialogue.

I am going to organize a situation whereby they will have access to Mr. President, and be able to discuss with him freely. He is a very simple person; he will be ready for that. We will then come together in a harmonious, peaceful environment, informal sector to interact because all of them are working for the development of this country. I’ll like them to see themselves as patriots.

President’s single tenure agenda
The most important thing is to express my own opinion in this matter. I was a member of the 1994, 1995 constitutional conference and one popular agenda which everybody bought; very popular was the single tenure. In 1994, 1995 when most patriots, anybody who was anybody in this country, were at the constitutional conference, that agenda of single tenure was adopted by all. It was then in the draft constitution. It was there. Everybody adopted it because we believed that that is the only way there will be equity, justice and fair play in the power equation in this country.

That’s the only way the minority, the majority of this country will be able to have a shot at power; both at the presidential level, the state level and the local government level. Nigeria is one country that is existing under the principle of unity in diversity. With about 220 ethnic nationalities; with some of them feeling so insecure that they are being marginalized and would not be able to have a shot at power, presidency in particular or even governorship in the state, the only way we can achieve that and kill their fears is through this single tenure, together with rotation.

In the constitutional conference then, we agreed that the rotation will go on for about 30 years when the political situation in the country must have consolidated, and then if people want it to continue, it will continue but if they don’t want it to continue, it will end. By then, power must have gone round almost all the zones. So, I do not see anything wrong in it.

The most important thing is to ask ourselves one question; is this message good? Is it right? Is it good for the political health of this country? If it’s good, then we just have to adopt it. So, I would plead with people to sit down and think about it. It is not about Mr. President, but about Nigeria. It’s about everybody having a shot at the presidency, at governorship, at the local government, irrespective of the social status of the people whether by minority or majority. So, I think it is a very good proposal.

But so far, the bill has not been sent. If you are real, kill the fears of the minority in particular. I supported the constitutional conference of 1994, 1995. I supported it. During the third term debate, I actually agitated. I advocated for a single tenure. I am not talking about government now, I am talking about myself because I am a Nigerian and I am entitled to my own opinion. So, I feel that it’s a good thing for the stability of this country.

I advocated for that during the third term debate, and I have not been convinced on why I should drop that belief. That it is one thing that is good for the political health of this country is what I believe. So, the most important thing is to may be use dialogue to convince people. I think that it is good for people to sit down and think about that message; is it good? Is it a good message? We should not personalize it.

South-East roads
It is still part of the transformation agenda, and it is a priority for this government. You can see that the Minister of Works is going round now. He is going round to look at the state of our roads. They know about the deplorable conditions of our roads. So, the government is seriously interested in putting a stop to the very bad, deplorable situation of our roads.
-Sunwp_posts

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Posted by admin on Sep 22 2011. Filed under Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Presidency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry