The Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has challenged lawmakers to make all the necessary sacrifice to make Nigeria better for future generations as they were elected at the most challenging time in the country, IgbereTV reports.
He was quoted in an address at a retreat in Lagos organised by chairmen of the 105 House of Representatives Standing committees.
“We have been elected at a time of great upheaval at home and abroad. We are confronted with great peril; oil prices have fallen and refuse to go back, our population growth continues to outpace economic growth, we are besieged on all sides by rising insecurity and its consequences.
“Too many of our people have lost faith in the ability of government to meet them at the point of their needs; to protect them and to deliver the conditions that will allow them pursue and achieve for themselves, lives of accomplishment and peace,” he said. He said the lawmakers must make sacrifices that would free future generations of lawmakers and other Nigerians from the burden of providing daily living for millions who wouldn’t otherwise survive. “After all, it is you who are often called upon to intervene, to deliver resources for childbirth, and school fees, to pay for funerals and provide for daily upkeep,” Gbajabiamila said. The Speaker enjoined them to be more committed to deliver on their mandates toward building an attractive economy that will attract investment to create jobs that will meet Nigerians’ present needs and grow to meet future demands. “How do we build a society where the weak are not afflicted by the powerful, where our differences of gender, tribe and religion and opinion are not weaponized to deprive any citizen of life, of liberty or the freedom to pursue happiness? “How do we achieve the promise of greatness that for so long ago caused the world to look upon us and say, here comes the giant of Africa?” he said.
