I recently pointed out that in 2008, the Nigerian Senate failed to show up to work for the minimum amount of days required by the Constitution. Well, it seems that the House of Representatives aims to follow in the Senate's footsteps this year. In fact, according to the Speaker of the House, since the beginning of its tenure, the House has only passed 21 bills. In the footage below, the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, chides his peers (many of whom appear absent) for their failure to tackle the work before them in a reasonable manner and pace. Please watch the video and pay attention to my favorite member of the National Assembly, the verbally colorful Patrick Obahiagbon (he begins at the 2:42 mark), as he does what he does best - talk. (With regard to this post, only the first 4 minutes of this footage are crucial, but the remaining news is informative on financial and other issues in Nigeria.)
It is only the beginning of 2009 and already, legislators are falling behind in their duties. This at a time when Nigeria and the entire world is experiencing an economic recession. I wonder if Nigeria's House of Representatives and Senators could pull an all-nighter[*] the way the Californian legislature did recently in order to tackle that state's (the 8th largest economy in the world) hefty multi billion dollar budget deficit. If they can stay up all night to work, Nigeria's legislature, in charge of managing not just a state, but the dreams, hopes and future of an entire nation, should be able to do much more, not so?
[*] - Despite the all-nighter, more work was needed to find a solution to California's budgetary woes. But that was eventually achieved when the vote of one Republican legislator was swayed. It took a long time, but the all-nighter paid off.
Hattip to Channels TV for the footage.
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7 Curiosities. Add Yours.:
seriously, anomy, mantapadance what language do our law makers speak.
That the Nigerian House of Representatives will ever pull an all-nighter is highly unlikely. I'm not even really sure what is to be done at this point. Every time the Nigerian government announces a new project, I think to myself "they keep on aiming for bigger and bigger things without fixing the crucial small ones first" How can we start nuclear research when we don't even have running water or constant electricity?
sometimes i wonder if Obahiagbon's fellow house member understand a jot of what he is saying? making some commonsense in toning down the "grammar" he blows might be useful....
Its obvious tho that its status quo in Nigerian politics..... Can't say I've got high hopes for them anymore..
At one point I actually thought I was watching a comedy. Hmmmm Well permit me to share this somewhere else.
lol! very lovely
its sad other house members were laughing while Obahiagbon was talking. sure he sounds funny when he speaks but he sure makes a point whenever he chooses to speak.
I'm sorry if I missed the point of this post, but the Patrick chap is freaking hilarious.
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