Nigeria (Blank NEWS Online) – Written by Ajalakpo Oweh;
Legislators in any political setting or locale are meant to represent the electorate and the welfare and interests of their constituents should be paramount. But that is not so with the members of Delta State House of Assembly.
Instead of them to make laws for the good governance and progress of the state and check the excesses of the executive arm of government, they are busy junketing round the globe under the veneer of some education tour and seminar. In October 2015, the twenty-nine member House under the leadership of the speaker, Honourable Monday Igbuya are in the United States of America undergoing some tutorials on parliamentary procedures. Getting education is not a bad idea but in a climate of near financial insolvency of the state that found expression in the debt burden of N637.22 billion and a recent debt of N10 billion incurred by the Okowa administration, the tour is either a waste, misplacement of priorities by the government or at best, a variant of prosperity agenda for the legislators. It is also possible that our universities are equipped to teach these adult learners.
It staggers the imagination and simply confounds economic realities that the legislators should feel happy embarking on such a tour when pensioners are not paid their entitlements three years running. It is also incredible that a government that sacked thousands of workers employed between December 2013 and May 29, 2015 can sponsor such a frivolous trip. The tour will cost the state government about one billion naira. Such huge amount of money can go a long way in fixing schools or health facilities. But our legislators are not perturbed about that. One legislator with conscience simply painted the education tour as a jamboree. This is how he puts it:
“If the figures should be revealed, Deltans will stone us and protest, especially in this era of almost zero allocation. If I must tell you the truth, my brother, this is the second time I am attending such training as a lawmaker and the training is actually nothing but a kangaroo training or jamboree. If you say you won`t attend, you will be tagged as the black sheep in the House”.
Deltans are very incensed about this waste of scarce resources and the legislators and the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa should know that history and posterity shall record them in that light.
Ajalakpo Oweh, a seasoned Journalists writes from the southern sub-region of Nigeria (Courtesy: National Review Magazine) http://www.nationalreview.ng
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