DAKUKU PETERSIDE FROM THISDAY
Nigerians have divided opinions about the efficacy of democracy in driving its development. There are constant threats to our democracy stemming from procedural and structural deficiencies in the system. At the core of these deficiencies are the imbalances in relevance and power among the three tiers of government that have seen the ascendancy of the executive arm above the legislature and judiciary. This anomaly is worse because it defeats the very essence of our representative democracy, where absolute power resides with the people, and they yield their powers to their various representatives at the centre. These representatives are in the National Assembly, working to influence the direction and impact of democracy.
Therefore, the legislature makes the laws, has oversight functions over the executive, the executive implements the laws, and the judiciary interprets them. In Nigeria, the executive arm has attracted all the attention and enjoys all the influence over and above the other two tiers. This reality has made some people question the relevance of our legislature and not reckon with it, especially in the recent past where, unfortunately, the National Assembly looks more like a student dormitory of equals, with no exciting debates, bickering on the floor, and lack of vision for the development of this country.
The National Assembly must be pivotal in addressing our country’s problems. Today, democracy in Nigeria is facing two threats. The first is the total disconnect of the government from the yearning and aspirations of the Nigerian people. The second is the need for uniting national vision. In both cases, the National Assembly has a role to play, and the people agree that it has performed abysmally in its position to alleviate or eliminate these threats and forge a democratic system to improve its citizens’ living standards. The fact that the National Assembly allows the executive to run roughshod over the citizens has yet to help the rating and importance of this institution in the public mind.
To play its role as a driver of democracy depends on the quality of its leadership and membership. The summation of the quality and character of individual legislature members provides the total quality and nature of the National Assembly. Therefore, the quest for an excellent National Assembly starts with the selection and election of candidates. The practice where the Senate was the dumping ground for former governors and high political figures without consideration for the character and quality of the individuals assaulted the Senate’s virility figuratively and turned it into almost a retirement home for politicians tired of playing local politics at their home states.
Besides, the business of legislation is a knowledge-intensive one. Members of the National Assembly must be versatile, dynamic, and ready to learn new things. This idea underscores the importance of ensuring that legislators receive appropriate training and support to understand the essence, purpose and philosophy of a modern legislature. Legislative knowledge and skills are essential for the National Assembly leadership. The National Assembly leadership crafts and implements a broad spectrum of programmes and agenda to fulfill its vision and mission for the legislature. They are the soul and spirit of the legislature and can either make or mar it. The legitimacy of the National Assembly before Nigerian people can be enhanced or diminished by the quality of leadership.If the leadership of the National Assembly is less knowledgeable than the common run of the executive branch, the quality of National Assembly leadership can only be low, and the legislature is open to abuse, control, and sometimes complete capture by the executive arm. The Executive, in this case, turns the legislature into a rubber stamp institution and a toothless bulldog. The leadership of the National Assembly should compare with that of their fellows in the developed world, and anything less jeopardises our legislature and its legislation.
