THE LEGISLATOR AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Gentlemen of the Press,
It is with profound gratitude to God Almighty that I address you this afternoon on my political aspiration as our democracy is on the match again preparatory to another round of election. Whichever way anyone defines democracy, what stands out most, in my view, is the fact that democracy rest upon the principle that government exist to serve the people. The people are citizens, not subjects; hence they do not exist to serve government. That is the main attraction of democracy as a system of government. I hereby congratulate Nigerians as they continue to enjoy, at least for most, or endure, for some others, the current democratic dispensation.
On Tuesday, the eleventh day of September 2018, I submitted completed nomination forms as prescribed by my party, the APC, as an aspirant, seeking for the nomination of my party to run for Uhunmwode Constituency seat at Edo State House of Assembly. So I address you today as an aspirant, praying and hoping to secure the party nomination to run for the highly coveted seat of my people. With the highest sense of modesty, I consider myself eminently qualified, fit and suitable to be entrusted with the responsibility of representing the good people of Uhunmwode Constituency at the State House of Assembly.
As another round of election approaches, only a matter of months away, Nigerians are again jolted awake by the theatrics of frenetic political activities on the periscope. The ordinary party man and indeed, the hoipolloi are happily being engaged by political aspirants, pretenders and opportunists as hallelujah praise-singers. It is their harvest time, so they say! Again, these are not the right signals for a society weighed down by issues of poor leadership and followership. All sides must rise up to the challenges of the time as quickly as possible.
The idea of turning the serious business of politics into entertainment comedy is repulsive and unacceptable. We must see the electoral process for what it is; a very serious business. Electoral exercise is one of the most significant events in our lives that we cannot afford to trivialize or treat with insouciance. We must refute the notion that our society is outside the larger international democratic system which follows prescribed norms such as placing ideas and accountability on the front burner of electoral discourse. Election season must beam search light on issues and those who seek to lead. The politics of drumming, playing maracas and trumpets and the politics of stomach infrastructures form the analytic framework for understanding the failure of our democracy since 1999. Mere sideshows, frippery and glitters have shaped our politics into sterility and backwardness. That must now change in favor of selling fresh ideas!
Democracy creates legitimate expectations of better for the people. How can this happen without good governance? It is good governance that can make it happen through the strengthening of social institutions to deliver social services, through the strengthening of economic and market institutions to deliver economic prosperity, and through a change in attitude, behaviors and skills. All of these are capable of engendering happiness and increasing life expectancy. But they proceed best from good governance which must be championed by the legislature. The poor handling of these issues will continue to leave our people drained of their dreams. This poses a huge challenge to government. It is in direct and bold response to the challenge that I am seeking to be nominated as a candidate to fly the flag of APC in Uhunmwode State House of Assembly constituency in the next election.
I have closely and keenly followed the governance style of the Edo State Governor, His Excellency, Governor Nogheghase Obaseki and can say straight away that his policies and programmes are well thought out, reforms oriented and sophisticated. We need vibrant, active, broadly educated House of Assembly members that understand his vision to support and complement his effort. Such a House will be one that robustly debates, that generates well researched bills and strengthens policy framework of government. Governor Nogheghase Obaseki is a rare technocrat who is working hard to build on the foundation laid by his predecessor His Excellency, Comrade Adams A. Oshiomhole through innovative ideas. I believe that a matured and intellectually sound membership of the House will hasten the pace of development and the delivery of social services with a view to achieve desirable social change.
For clarity, I use the term social change to mean a change in paradigm in the social and economic structure of the society which will result in better access to functional education, good quality health services, employment of the army of idle hands and delivery of goods and services. The process will be driven by cultural, religious, economic, scientific or technological forces which are yet fully untapped. I am committed to the thought process and research that will generate laws that will engender the sort of social re-engineering which will access the inner strength, skills and talents of our people in order to achieve the envisaged societal transformation. I am highly motivated and excited by the opportunities that exist in the House to bring desirable changes to our State and communities.
To be honest, I have always wondered why not much attention has been given to the urgent need to upgrade and update many of our laws. So many of them are embarrassingly and inexcusably obsolete. No society can effectively regulate its activities and expect to grow economically with such obsolete laws. We must understand that the maintenance of law and order, and the maintenance of peace are critical to the growth and development of any society. It is the responsibility of our party to nominate and elect their representatives wisely. Let capacity, experience, pedigree and exposure of each aspirant speak for them, louder than the money they share and the sound of their trumpets. They must rank among those who understand how things work in the society and those ready to work hard to bring positive change in the life of the ordinary man in the street. I am running this race for a cause. I am motivated by the challenges before us and poised to release passionate energy and imagination to resolve the issues holding us down as a people. I believe the legislator is a tool for social change! I am convinced that so much more can be achieved by this government and future governments if the right people, with the right motivation are elected into various offices, the House in particular!
Finally, let me use this medium to appeal to my party men and women in Uhunmwode to see in me a harbinger of innovation and one that will discharge legislative responsibilities with the highest sense of responsibility, dedication and passion. I am committed to engendering positive social change and transformation through law making. I believe, this will bring governance to the doorsteps of my people as never before witnessed. It is a collective responsibility and I can assure all and sundry that no segment of the society will be left behind. If government will mean anything to the people, the Legislature must make laws to impact positively on every single life. That is my commitment!
WASHINGTON OSA OSIFO,
DOCTORAL RESEARCHER
IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY,
OKADA.