Jonathan, Nigeria’s most tolerant, democratic leader – Ogoriba

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Warman Ogoriba, has contended that President Goodluck Jonathan has raised the bar on good leadership and tolerance, arguing that his successor may find it difficult meeting the standard.

Speaking at a special session with the House of Representatives Press Corps over the weekend, Ogoriba argued that while the president remained the most criticised of the nation’s leaders, there have never been attempts at incarcerating any of the critics and that the National Assembly was enjoying the utmost level of independence under him.
Scoring Jonathan high for stabilising the polity, the lawmaker stated: “In terms of political stability in the country, you can’t take the unrivalled achievement of a stable political climate away from the Jonathan administration. Just take, for instance, the National Assembly. From 1999 to 2009, you can count the number of impeachments of presiding officers in both chambers of the National Assembly. And all of those impeachments had the imprints of the Executive arm on them.”
“This has been the only administration where you have a very peaceful parliament, conducting its legislative activities without the Executive poking its nose to see how it can influence things as they will favour it. Since 2011 till date, we have never seen the hand of Esau in the things that go on within the National Assembly to warrant us fighting and breaking one another’s heads in the chambers.
“Secondly, you should also know that Jonathan is the most insulted president in the history of this country without heads rolling. People from all walks of life insult this president openly without him, unleashing his security arsenal on any Nigerian because he knows that the responsibility of the office of the president comes with enormous sacrifice, which he has to make to keep the country together.
“We know what governors in some states have done to people who merely criticise their policies on social media. Many have gone to jail or lost their lives by just criticising the action of governors in this country. But President Jonathan has never caused the arrest of anybody on the basis of either criticism or verbal abuse of his person in the media. He has also remained very calm and focused when issues come up to overheat the polity from the opposition.
“He has never ordered the arrest of any opposition even when they make inflammatory or derogatory comments about his person and his office. And I pity the person that would take over from Jonathan, because he will have to contend with all these tendencies for which Jonathan has raised the bar of tolerance. If the person is not tolerant enough, he may end up jailing or killing so many Nigerians on the basis of his own ego,” he said.
Ogoriba also declared that lingering insurgency being perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect had no basis of comparison with now rested Niger Delta militancy, stating that while the later was pure agitation on the basis of demand for rights, the former is pure terrorism.
“Mind you, even before the period leading to the proclamation of amnesty in 2009, a great son of the region, Isaac Adaka Boro, had taken up arms against the state before the war. He was arrested and jailed, but was later released after the war. So, before the youths in the region took up arms, there had been a long period of agitation, which is quite different from what we have now in the North East.
“Another difference between the scenarios is that the people involved in the militancy were known faces that you could relate with. They had issues for which they waged their war against the state. And most of the issues raised fell on deaf ears of successive administrations, which led to the desperate measures of resorting to arm struggle. And the amnesty programme brought a solution to the Niger Delta-militancy problem.”
Also throwing light on status of East-West road, which his committee is directly supervising, the lawmaker said though poor funding was hugely responsible for delay in its execution, he was optimistic that it would delivered before the end of 2015, disclosing further that between N60 and N70 billion might still be required to complete the job.
He also vowed that his committee would ensure that contractors who are serious are encouraged while those that failed would not be given funds in the 2015 Appropriation.
On the outcome of the National Conference, Ogoriba said it was “difficult to start talking about the report when I have not read the details of it. And as you know, before a report is debated on the floor of the House, it would have been distributed among members for adequate study preparatory to the debate and subsequent legislation action.” He noted that he still considered the 13 percent derivation fund to oil producing states as inadequate.
The lawmaker said there was nothing wrong with the endorsement of Jonathan as sole presidential candidate of the PDP by various organs of the party.
On the perceived deviation of the current House of Representatives from its initial course, based on its adopted legislative agenda, the lawmaker blamed same on the influence of godfathers and expressed optimism that the House would still be able to retrace its steps.
Also speaking on his constituency outreach and the justification of his come back bid, Ogoriba noted: “I think I’ve done very well to effectively represent my people. And as a legislator, one of the greatest assets you can give to your people is unhindered access. Make yourself accessible to them at all time, listen to their needs and complaints. It’s by so doing that you adequately situate your argument and contribution to legislatives processes in such a way that it helps to address their concerns.
“In terms of empowerment, I believe I’ve done very well too. We have carried out many empowerment programmes in my constituency. By November, God willing, the last batch of the 250 women in one of the empowerment programmes will be through. They are currently undergoing skill acquisition training sponsored by me.
“On the issue of whether my re-election bid is justified, I would like to say that – that lies in the hands of God and the people of the constituency. Like every other person, I do not expect any.”post by expdonaloaded