Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Speaker Taraba State House of Assembly Professor Joseph Albasu Kunini on Saturday said that the tendency to assess Nigerian legislators based on physical projects they execute in their respective constituencies rather than their legislative prowess is wrong and exerts unnecessary pressure on the law makers.
Kunini who said this on the sidelines of the meeting of presiding officers of the Nigerian legislature ongojng in Abuja noted that attention is often shifted from the executive arm of government that is saddled with the responsibility of executing programs of government to the legislators who’s primary responsibility is to make laws.
He noted that even when a legislators performs very well in terms of sponsoring bills and motions, the people give nearly zero credit to such except those that carry out physical projects for the locals.
“Our understanding of the responsibilities of the various arms of government is, to put it mildly, wrong. You will discover that an average Nigerian rates a legislator base on the number of physical projects he or she executes in their respective constituencies.
“I think this is not very correct. Attention needs to be shifted from the executive role of the legislature to their legislative prowess and exploits which is actually the main thrust of their mandate. The three arms of government work on distinct areas and yet they work collaboratively to get the overall results that translates to dividends of democracy.
“The same way you would not expect the executive to become law makers or the judiciary to become the executive, that is how unfair it is when we start judging legislators by the number of projects they execute. Yes, we lobby to bring projects to our Constituencies based on popular demands as it is the best practices globally.
“So in as much as I encourage my colleagues to do their best by standing in the gap for development needs of their constituents and the actual attention given by the state to these needs, it is imperative for the general public to note that this is going the extra mile and not necessarily their core responsibility” Kunini said.
He noted that as a philanthropist and Community player, he has been able to reach out to the peculiar needs of his constituents outside provisions of the government and urged others to do same as “government may not be there to provide the all round needs of the people and may not really understand their needs as intricately as the legislator who actually represents them in the system”.