Senate Not A Rubber Stamp- Awoyelu
Senator Awoyelu from Ekiti State tells SAYO IFEDAYO that the present senate is doing well, and that Ekiti has benefited from this government.Excerpts:
Deregulating the NLC
I will not subscribe to any move to proscribe the NLC. I am a strong supporter of the Labour Movement but at the same time I believe that Nigeria cannot in any way operate in isolation.
We must try to conform with the laws of the land with the International Law and Conventions. I am aware that the trend these days is for countries to formulate policies that will allow free formation of unions. And that there is no country that can say there must be only one labour movement. If you look at what happens in Britain today, you will see that what obtains in Nigeria is not the situation over there.
I believe that we as a country, we are a signatory to international conventions and it is part of what we have agreed within the International Labour organisation that countries should encourage free association, free Interaction and that countries should not in anyway impose a single movement on all workers. So, workers should be able to decide where to go.
Challenges before the Senate
A senator is a representative of the people. He is there to make laws for the country and he has responsibility for oversights functions. So, these are reasons why we have senators in place.
In the area of Lawmaking, in the last one year, compared to that of the previous senate, we have passed more bills, more motions .In the area of over sight functions, if you see what is happening today, there is no important area of governing where you have not seen the senate doing one thing or the other. So we are effectively monitoring what all ministries are doing, we are also effectively monitoring the political situation on a daily basis.So to that extent, I believe that when you put all three together, you will know that we have done much better.
In the area of representation, in our own various places, there is no senator that I believe has not come up with one thing (proposal) or the other that could better the lot of their people. Quite frankly we have performed much better than the past senate.
Where there are problems, we find ways of sitting down as matured Nigerians, and as distinguished senators to look at the problems and then try and find solution.
So I believe in areas of peace and stability, we have done much because, we have had only, one Senate President officers for the past one year. I believe that this senate to which I belong is no way a rubber stamp organisation, not at all.
On Ministerial appointment from Osun state
Well it has been a very unfortunate situation, I must confess. I think Ekiti people have learnt their lessons now. You know we are very notorious about petition writing. We had many petitions that were coming on a daily basis. And it became so much that the senate started having the feelings that this person (Borishade) must not be good enough when he had to sit over the affairs of he Ministry of Education. Mr. President would always prefer that Professor Borishade was made Minister and I know that since that man is from my state, any attempt to say no to him will just mean that Ekiti will continue without a minister. That was why some of us started the lobby, which was terribly difficult. You know for the senate to say no on one thing and to come back and review their own decision, whoever had been to the legislative house will know that it is very difficult.
When you see what we put into play to make sure that we were able to clear Prof. Borishade, everybody would want to praise and thank us and also thank God because we had to start from house to house. We went from Person to person and there was nothing we did not do to make sure that our colleagues surely Participated in this move and see reason with us. And, I want to thank my colleagues in the senate for backing us to have our own minister to represent us at the federal council.
Democratic dividends for Ekiti
Mr. President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the greatest friend of Ekiti people. Before 1999, those of us who are Ekiti people, we can still recollect the kind of place we had. At the creation of Ekiti State we know what we were suffering. It took an average of two hours to drive from Akure to Ekiti because the road was terribly bad and it was a federal road. For a very long time, people abandoned it but when Mr. President came he listened to Ekiti people. I think Ekiti people should thank Mr. President because, in half an hour now if you put your car on the road from Akure, you will get to Ado-Ekiti.
We can go on, on and on like that. I have decided to go into specifics, just to tell you that when you are taking decisions you have to compare one thing with the other in assessing the performance of an individual. You have to see what he has done in his own period compared with when other people where there.
When you put all these things together, I think "we should be fair enough to say that the President has done well for Ekiti people. In terms of political appointment you see, only in the last session, I know that not less than sixty Ekiti people were holding one federal appointment or the other. This had never happened in Ekiti land before, since we became a state. Since our "Ekiti Parapo" wars". We have never had it so good. So why I don't blame people at all is because when you don't have anything, you will always want to struggle for it.
