By Paul Mumeh .
Arguably, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani is one of the intellectuals in the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was in the 6th Senate when Senator David Mark held sway as the President of the Senate .
As the then Governor of Enugu, he demonstrated his intellectual prowess with his Ebeano lecture series where dissect international and national issues . In the 6th Senate, he was the vice chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Senator Jubril Aminu was his Chairman. By sheer coincidence or divine , Senator Aminu was billed to present the committee report on the floor of the Senate after committee assignment but delegated Sen Nnamani to do so on behalf of the committee.
The usual practice when presenting such report is that the Senator reads the report before submitting to the Senate President . On this particular occasion, Nnamani took every one by surprise when he stood up to present the entire report extempore. The Senate was a pin drop silence as Nnamani eloquently presented the voluminous report without looking at any documents.
Senator Mark in accepting the report said “ thank you Senator Nnamani, this is brilliant, it is novel. Only an intellectual like you can do this”. That presentation remained a reference point in the Senate .
For inexplicable reasons, Nnamani was out of the 7th and 8th Senate. He returned to red chamber in the 9th Senate and immediately stamped his authority as a leader ready to make the difference.
His imprint was to define his legislative agenda to wit; to be part or proponent to midwife a prosperous, United and peaceful Nigeria where the welfare and security of the citizens would be the mission and purpose. He craves for an egalitarian society where no one is oppressed ; where every citizen is free to carry out his or her legitimate business in any part of the country without fear of intimidation or molestation. He believes in justice and rule of law .
On the screening of ministerial nominees particularly on July 29, 2019, Nnamani demonstrated the stuff in him when he paid glowing tribute to Foreign Affairs minister Geofrey Onyeama. His oratory prowess and mastery of Queen English unconsciously drew the applause and standing ovation of his colleagues who chanted Ebeano; Ebeano.
Till date, Senator Nnamani remains the only Senator who stood up to oppose the social media regulation bill. He earned the respect and indeed endeared himself to Nigerians and the international community for that singular effort at a time others were playing to the gallery or playing the ostrich.
He is an unrepentant advocate for women and child rights. Curiously , Nnamani is the only male Senator in the Woman Affairs Committee in the Senate promoting women and child rights.
To advance his push for girl child education and gender equality, Nnamani paid the last West African Examinations Council ( WAEC) fees for all the girls in Enugu East Senatorial District. To his credit, more than 90 per cent of the girls in his constituency passed creditably in the examination.
In the Senate today, people are always anxious to hear Nnamani make contributions to debates and motion. When he does, it is usually a pin drop silence because of his eloquence, oratory Power and mastery of English language.
Only recently, the Enugu state University of Science and Technology (ESUT) named Senator Nnamani visiting Professor of Gynecology and Obstrestric. He would be teaching on women and children health.
He will lecture pro bono especially during recess or break from the Parliament.
Nobody can deny the fact that Nnamani is one of the brilliant and patriotic Senators in the red chamber today.
As the Senate reconvenes after the new year break, it is expected that Senator Nnamani would return with his robust , Scintillating and reverberating contributions to national issues .
