Hon. Garba Datti, a former Deputy Whip of the House of Representatives who has just been re-elected for the fourth time to represent Sabon Gari Federal Constituency of Kaduna State in this Interview with Obute James, said one of the ways to curb the degenerating security level in the nation is to emulate China which was known as one of the third world countries but because of patriotism and selfless services, is now moving forward to become the world most powerful nation. He spoke on the National Assembly Lesdership among other things
Excerpts:
Q. Are you in support of the effort by some quarters to ensure that the ancient city of Zaria maintain its original name in the two local government areas that made up of Zaria and Sabon Gari Federal Constituencies?
Ans. I’m a Representative of people, Zaria Federal Constituency of Kaduna State. Whatever they support, I will also accept it. The issue you are talking about has not come out by way of a bill yet. Whenever it comes up as a bill, we will look at it. If it is something we need to support. We will support it.
Q. What is your expectation of the 9th National Assembly?
Ans. We expect a robust legislature in the 9th National Assembly. We don’t want to have a legislature that will be confrontational with the executive arm of government all the time.
Q. How do you think that can be done?
Ans. The All Progressive Congress has won the presidential election as will as won majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. What they wanted us to do is to adopt the majority leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively. This is what is obtainable globally where presidential system of government is practiced.
The two men in question, Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajamila are qualified for the position of Senate President and Speaker of Household of Representatives having been in legislative businesses over a decade.
Q. Are you not afraid that if the lawmakers alway do the bidding of the party and the executive without proper consultation with other relevant stakeholders, the legislative arm will turnout to become a rubber stamp of the executive?
I don’t think so because the two chambers consist of matured men and woman who know the responsibilities of the legislative arm. We are guided by the law and we are going to operate within the ambit of the law. A situation where the executive and the legislative arm work together in a harmonious way is better than having rancorous house. We want to hit the ground running. A situation where budget can be passed before the beginning of each financial year is what we intend to achieve.
If executive arm brings bill that will lead to development we will support it but anything going contrary to our rules, we will not accept it. We are autonomous.
Q. Are you not worried about the degenerating level of insecurity in North West, North East and across the country?
Ans. Though I’m not a security expert, however, when we are talking about insecurity, we need to look at the major causes of it from different perspectives. These include socially, economically and politically.
Why do some people put on explosives to kill themselves and destroy other people. Why do some people go to some certain places and destroy everything they see including human beings and animals? We need to get to the root of these problems.
What program do we have for the population of the country that is growing day by day?
Every year thousands of students graduate from schools, what programmes do we have for them?
I think we have to emulate China in order to turn our population to our advantage.
China was known for its deplorable condition several years ago. But since 1981 when their people made up their mind to use their over one billion population for its advantage, things began to go well for them. In the nearest future China may be the world most powerful nation. This is did not happen overnight, it was a collective decision to embrace patriotism, comitment and dedication to selfless services.