Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, member representing Bende Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has reacted to the exclusion of South East from presiding offices of the 9th National Assembly.
Igbere TV had reported that the inauguration of the 9th Assembly held on Tuesday, June 11, which saw the emergence of presiding officers in the two legislative chamber.
For the Senate, while Ahmad Lawan from Yobe (North) emerged as Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege from Delta (South) clinched on to the Deputy Senate President seat.
Similarly, for the House of Representatives, while Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos (West) emerged as Speaker, Idris Wase from Plateau (North) clinched on to the Deputy Speaker seat.
This development saw the exclusion of the South East geopolitical zone from the distribution of key leadership positions in the 9th NASS.
Also, in the executive arm, while President Muhammadu Buhari is from Katsina (North), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is from Lagos (West).
For the judiciary arm, a Northerner, Justice Tanko Mohammed currently presides as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. A check on the list of Supreme Court Justices also showed that no Easterner currently presides as a Chief Judge.
Reacting, Benjamin Kalu, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, described the development as a sad one.
He said it was sad that the South East pushed for key leadership positions in the 9th National Assembly but ended up not getting any.
Kalu, who spoke in an exclusive interview with Igbere TV moments after his inauguration in Abuja, however assured that negotiations are top gear to get other principal positions for the South East zone.
He called on the Igbo nation to participate in mainstream politics, in subsequent times, adding that alienating themselves from Nigerian politics will do no good but further harms.
Kalu said: “We are not happy about it. We are not happy that we made efforts for us to occupy some key positions and couldn’t get any. But there are other positions coming, we are lobbying to make sure that we get integrated into the mainstream politics in Nigeria.
“This development is also a wake up call to the Igbos not to alienate themselves (from politics), but to participate in what is happening in the Nigerian politics. It is not every time you go hand tie with the system, you go with the flow.
“If you are not well equipped to sustain the tempo while going against the flow, why attempt?, because it needs a whole lot of force to go against the current and Igbos don’t have it at the moment.
“Until we are together with one voice pursuing one particular goal, understanding that our strength lies in all of us coming together with one voice, with what we have to bring to the centre in diversity, that is only when we can move the Igbo nation forward.
“A situation whereby a “pull him down” syndrome exist, we cannot move forward.
“Where a man is aspiring for a higher position and because you don’t just like his face, you want to pull him down, it will not take the community forward. But if we encourage one another, definitely, the strength of one another will be showcased more than the weaknesses.
“What the Igbos have thrived on over the years has been capitalizing and showcasing the weaknesses of their brothers, let us encourage others in every effort they make be it in business, politics or career development. Let us encourage one another to push from one level to another level.
“But there is hope, and we are keeping that hope alive that we are going to get to the place of our dreams. The journey just started.”
On his emergence and inauguration as a lawmaker, Kalu said, “I am not just a Rep member for Bende, I am for the whole nation and very soon we will announce our presence. That will gladden the heart of the people of Bende and the nation as well.”
Asked what his Constituency, Bende should expect in the next four years of his representation, the Bende Federal lawmaker said, “availability.”
“They should expect us to be available, for us to network with them, and be able to represent them very well.
“You know the key functions of the parliament — the legislative, representative and oversight functions — we are going to carry them out effectively.
“But the one that is so dear to my heart is the representative function because that is where people element is so well expressed: where you understand the needs of the people, carry it on your shoulder and bring it down to Abuja to fight for them. That is the one I am interested in.
“I am now concerned with the ecological needs of our people. Erosion is ravaging our place and the roads are being cut into two. We can’t access our farms again. Most harvests execution is hard because there are no roads to come back home with the crops home. Somewhere in Nkpa you cannot carry the crops with a vehicle, you have to carry it on your head and swim through a river because there are no roads, erosion have destroyed them.
“But we are pushing, very soon you will start hearing my voice in the National Assembly. We have been preparing and we have prepared couple of bills that we want to propose, motions we are going to announce. We are not going there to sleep, we are going there to showcase both the strengths and weaknesses of Bende.
“Now is the time to serve the people of Bende, the people are waiting. They are hungry for swift delivery of quality service and we are geared up, we are energized. We are passionate about the service that we are going to render, not for self but because the people are in need of it so we have to give it to them. It is not about Benjamin, it is about all of us.
“This is a call to all Bende who have something to offer to come, let’s make Bende better. It is not for me to do alone. I want us to join our strength, our wisdom to project our community from where it is to where it ought to be,” Benjamin Kalu added.
