Memoirs Of DTHA’s Public Lecture

Having been inaugurated on June 7, 2011, the Delta State House of Assembly, DTHA, clocked one year on June 7, 2012.
To commemorate this successful completion of one legislative year, the Assembly rolled out its drum to celebrate. The four-day celebration which began on Sunday, June 24, 2012 with a thanksgiving service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Unity Model Parish/Provincial Headquarters), featured a press conference and public lecture, Dinner/Award Night before capping on June 27 with Project Smile, an initiative of the legislators’ wives, to empower widows and the less-privileged.
The public lectures, arguably the climax of the celebration, which held on Tuesday, June 26 at the Event Centre, Okpanam Road, Asaba, would be remembered for a long time to come for many reasons. Though slated for 10am, the event did not get underway until about 11.40am when the Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, in the company of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; the Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor, et al, walked into the venue in measured executive gait.
No sooner had they arrived than a recorded version of the National Anthem was played. This was followed by an opening prayer said by the Delta State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Archbishop God-do-well Anomakpai to formally declare the event and underscore the state’s propensity for prayers, according to one of the comperes, Pastor Powell Ojogho.
In his welcome address, the Chairman, Planning Committee of the Anniversary Celebration and member representing Isoko South Constituency, Prince Johnson Erijo, described the legislature as a vital organ of government and symbol of democracy which often suffered deprivation during military incursion to power.” He observed that the role of the legislature in a democracy was grossly misunderstood by  many a development he, said, often led to “frosty executive/legislature relationship.”
Prince Erijo said the lectures became an imperative integral part of “our annual anniversary celebration to continually enlighten our people of the essence and relevance of our democratic institutions,” adding that the topics as well as lecturers had been “carefully chosen.”
The Speaker of the DTHA, Rt. Hon Victor Ochei, corroborated the views of Hon. Erijo when he said that the lectures were initiated to shed more light on the roles of the legislature which he opined, had been fully developed even though it has existed for only 25 years out of Nigeria’s 52 years of post-independence existence.
The Speaker justified the celebrations and scored DTHA high for passing six bills out of a total of 19; renovating the Assembly complex and initiating measures to instil discipline among the staff of the Assembly, among other achievements during the year under review. He solicited the support of Deltans to enable the Assembly do more as well as commended the Governor for his support and commitment to the development of DTHA. “If all Governors were to treat their Houses of Assembly as nicely as Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, there would be no need for the financial autonomy being canvassed,” the Speaker observed.
Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan started on a humorous note when he addressed the Speaker of DTHA as “near-barrister,” amongst other titles. He congratulated the Assembly on behalf of the Executive and people of Delta State, observing that the House has “done so well in the last one year.”
The Governor opined that no government could succeed without the legislature, hence the need to prioritise the development of the legislature by every government. He attributed the success and laudable achievements of his administration to the cooperation of the Assembly, adding that what exists between the two arms of government was a cordial relationship as “no arm is a stooge to the other.”
Dr. Uduaghan rationalized that since industrialization takes a longer time, his administration, in the interim, was taking very seriously the issue of Micro Credit and Medium and Small-Scale Enterprises (SMEs); developing agriculture, tourism and other scores with a view to creating jobs for the teeming youths of the state and bequeathing a legacy of “Delta Without Oil” to the next generation. In view of this transformation agenda, like it has been dubbed, the Governor pledged that the Executive arm would “continue to work together with the legislature” to deliver on its three-point agenda which he says is a summation of all the challenges of the state.
On his part, the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, described his being in Delta as home-coming as “it is a wonderful experience each time. I’m in Delta.” He congratulated the DTHA on its “enviable landmark achievements” and commended both the Executive and legislature for the cordial relationship that existed between them, calling for such relationship at all levels.
The Speaker observed that the legislature was the least understood of all the arms of government and advocated enlightenment and constituency briefings as ways of increasing the awareness of the roles of the third arm of government. He lauded the initiative of public lecture as part of the one year anniversary celebration of the Fifth Assembly, describing the topics as appropriate before teeing off the lecture sessions.
The babaringa-wearing Speaker was to chair the first lecture session. The guest lecturer and Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who was represented by his deputy, Engr. Telle Ikwu, while dissecting the topic: “Lgislature/Executive Relationship: A practical Experience”, observed that the legislature was crucial to the sustainability of democracy, adding that the Executive was no less crucial. He opined that good governance would remain elusive until both arms of government understand and operate complementarily.
Engr Telle congratulated DTHA on the “pace-setting initiative” of a public lecture, observing that it is the first time in the country such a conference was holding and urged other states to emulate its example.
The second lectured, delivered by Prof. Michael Ikhrariale, was titled “The Role of Legislators in an Emerging Democracy” and the session was chaired by Dr. Akpo Mudiaga Odje, who represented the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba. In a humour-laced discourse, the former dean of the University of Lagos, summarized the roles of the legislature to include oversight, adjudication, petition reception and treatment and vetting of political appointees. He commended the legislature and cited instances of how it rose to the occasion to save the Nigerian ship from capsizing.
Prof. Fidelis Odita, who delivered the third lecture on, “The Role of the Legislator in a Representative Democracy” aligned with most of the views of the previous speaker and listed the factors militating against effectiveness of the legislature to include legislative independence, lobbying; conflict of interests; corruption; bureaucracy and budgetary implementation. While commending the legislature, he urged members of DTHA to live by example.
The down-to-earth examples and professional delivery, albeit in low tone, earned the Queen’s cunsel intermittent applause. When he was done, the Chairman of the session, Hon. Leo Ogor, had to cede the role of moderating the question -and-answer session to the Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Waziri Tambuwal who midwifed their conclusion session of the public lecture as part of DTHA’s day of glory.