Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Mr. Samuel Ikon, spoke to Ayoyinka Olagoke, on a number of issues. The Speaker, who represents Etinan State Constituency, said until Nigeria inculcates the values that successful nations thrive on, we will be going round in circles. He also informed that the Assembly was also planning to domesticate the FoI Bill. Excerpts:
What are the immediate areas of concentration for the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly?
The fact that we have the opportunity to understudy what the immediate past House of Assembly did provides us room to plan better. Having been part of the previous Assembly, I have an advantage. For instance in the area of training, we would ensure that all the lawmakers attend more training workshops and conferences. We would also try to ensure there are more constituency interactions this time. Part of the plans that we are looking towards by the end of 2013, would be to embark on a project tagged, ?Meet your Constituency Programme,? where the Speaker will visit the constituencies in company of the lawmaker representing the area. The purpose is to ascertain whether such lawmaker was in touch with his or her constituency. It will also be to ascertain what they have achieved and attracted to their constituencies in terms of constituency projects. Our belief is that every lawmaker should have, at least attracted some projects to his or her constituency, after two years in office. This period, we are going to concentrate on sponsoring more of private member bills instead of the Executive Bills that dominated the last House.
How will the Freedom of Information Bill affect the House?s relationship with the media?
We are looking at domesticating the Freedom of Information Bill. The Committee on Information will soon start work on that issue. We are aware that Ekiti State has domesticated the bill and that was the reason I said the Fifth Assembly will have a lot of collaborative efforts with the media. Plans are on the way to send people to Ekiti State to see what they did and we will see what we have here and what we can do in respect of our peculiar terrain and traditions. It is the desire of this House to domesticate the FoI Bill. We believe that the Bill is a good one and it gives both sides a sense of responsibility. It also demands maturity and high sense of patriotism. Already, we have started organising quarterly media briefing to allow us entertain questions from people concerning our activities. We are also going to encourage more interaction between the House and the media for transparency and accountability purposes.
What is your assessment of the last House of Assembly?
It performed very well in terms of what it was expected to do, which was to make good laws for the good governance of our state. We can see the massive transformation happening in Akwa Ibom today. These were all built on the foundation of the laws passed by the last House and properly implemented by the Executive. They did very well and history will be kind to them.
The Election Petitions Tribunal verdict, which struck out the petition of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) guber petition against Governor Godswill Akpabio, means different things to different people. Where do you stand?
As far as I am concerned, it was victory for truth, victory for justice and victory for the popular will of the people. Everybody in this state knows the truth that PDP won the election and it was very clear. I thank the judiciary for standing for the truth and remaining the last hope of the common man. That judgement rekindles our confidence in the judiciary. We congratulate all those that believe in the truth and justice. I believe the governor is transforming Akwa Ibom and I?m sure he will remain focused.
Nigeria is beset with a legion of challenges, ranging from dearth of infrastructure, to unemployment and insecurity. Are we making any progress as a nation?
Ordinarily issues like these are not supposed to be challenges to Nigeria anymore, if we are sincere with ourselves. What distances us from America and Europe is simply insincerity and not being passionate about finding lasting solutions to our problems. For instance, if you tell somebody bring in fire truck; he goes to bring refurbished ones forgetting that the equipment is meant to service the people for a long time. We seriously lack sense of patriotism and sincerity and these are the basis of our problems. Akwa Ibom is making a difference because the governor has never played politics with projects. He brought in companies that can deliver on expectations. For instance, he has cousins and friends that would have bought one or two bulldozers and set up road construction firms to bid for jobs in the state. But he didn?t allow that and today we have beautiful road networks because the jobs were given to those who can do it. Look at the e-library, the Governor?s lodge amongst other projects. Until Nigeria inculcates the necessary values that successful nations thrive on, that is honesty, hard work, patriotism, we will be wasting our time. I sit today as Speaker, I must leave legacies that will be remembered and that requires me to do the right thing. Nigerians must begin to have a sense of patriotism. When we have sense of patriotism we will not be selfish. What is happening in Nigeria has its root in selfishness.
Leadership tussle is commonplace in most state assemblies. How are you managing your challenges?
I don?t see any challenges ahead. With the calibre of members that we have in terms of exposure and education, there is no need to fear because it is a question of square pegs in square holes. I don?t anticipate any crisis and the way we run the House is such that there won?t be room for crisis because it is an open system, where we are free to express our feelings and we have a leadership that accepts criticisms and is open to discussions. We don?t gag our members. What you must understand about legislature is that we are all equals. Because there must be some order, that is why they say this one is Speaker, this one is Deputy Speaker but first and foremost, we are all equals because we stood the same election, hold the same offices as representatives of our various constituencies. This one is an internal arrangement of order and command. We don?t intend to breathe down on people as if they are our staff.
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