Donald
The shameless display in the house on 22/6/10 is of tripartite significance. It showed the students of City Pride Secondary School who were unfortunate witnesses to the abominable display that there is nothing honourable about these horrible members and that the best preparation for politics is a mastery of area-boy strategy and tactics. Secondly, it has made the job of the boxing, karate, judoka, and wrestling sports associations very simple: they now know where to recruit for the next National, regional and Olympic competitions. It also showed that those fellows who performed live for the whole on that day are not longer qualified to be our representatives. Of course, they are not our representatives. They are ‘INEC licensed thugs’; ‘political witches and wizards eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Nigerians’; ‘a bunch of dishonourable urchins’ and ‘locusts’ devouring the wealth of the country! That show of shame should actually be the beginning of the end for these ‘legislathieves’, ‘legislooters’ and ‘legisloafers’
Since that special episode of ‘fuji house of commotion’ was witnessed by all, there is no need revisiting it fully but two issues are worth mentioning. Dino Melaye who was the thug-in-chief for the progressives, was incidentally the chief ‘Ettehist’ and brought the house to anarchy and public odium during the Etteh crises of 2007.Then, as the Chairman of House Committee on Information he deployed verbal terrorism against his colleagues as he freely used words and phrases like satanic, baseless, unfounded, wicked lies from enemies, malicious, frivolous, and crush anyone who is stubborn![The News, 3/9/07,p30]! Seeing that words did not work that time, he resorted to physical terrorism this time around. But how can 11 people terrorise a house of 360 members?. Writing on that legislative brigandage, Edwin Odvwiri noted that ‘The way Dino Melaye conducted himself on the floor of the house that Tuesday bespeaks of the character of a degenerate tout’. Melaye, who was recently awarded a chieftaincy title in his village lacks the integrity to execute an anti-corruption crusade and his personality is not suited to lawmaking Only God knows what he will do next. The matter of Doris Ugbo also deserves a special mention because she displayed more aggression than the men and because of the arranged crowd of women[including octogenarians and she-senators] protesting about the ‘manhandling’ of a lady.
A woman who decides to wrestle with a man cannot cry foul when some parts of her body become ‘victims’ of the wrestling contest. Of course, since she could not stand the heat, she should not have gone near the kitchen. The protesting women were silent about their sister who was freely throwing punches and who behaved rather unwomanly. Of course, what a man can do… The people of Okigwe South Federal constituency also protested the suspension of their ‘effective and worthy representative’ and accused Bankole of being anti-Igbo by diverting N1bn ecological fund meant for the area as well as N7bn of the 12bn budgeted for 2nd Niger Bridge to Ogun State. [Thisday, 1/7/10.p7]. They did not say anything about the sinful and outrageous, unconstitutional salaries/allowances; they did not ask their worthy representative why he invaded the NASS with weapons of mass destruction or why he despatched his colleague to the hospital. And it must take the war of 22/6/10 for them to remember all the sins of Bankole! I cannot bet my biro on Bankole’s integrity but that does not justify the legislative brigandage and free-style wrestling of 22/6/10.The charges against the house leadership must be investigated and sanctions meted out as appropriate. But Melaye and his gang of 10 behaved condemnably.
But the events of 22/6/10 have only brought the fore, the irresponsible and criminal tendencies in the house: greed, corruption and dishonourable conduct. And it is not just in the national assembly. The Edo State House of Assembly was transformed into a theatre of war when the speaker was impeached the other time while a group of Adedibu’s apprentices invaded the Oyo State House of assembly, breaking heads and limbs early in June. The impeachment of the Deputy Governors of Bauchi and Bayelsa was anything but honourable though I have no tears for Ebebi because he has become a victim of his own treacheries. Thus state assemblies are suffering from the same acute greed, self-serving tendencies and utter disregard for the people. They guzzle our money, turned the house into a den of thieves, act with unparalleled impunity and have become another NEPA: National Embarrassment and Public Annoyance.
When you read the papers and note the words and phrases used to describe our so called representatives, it becomes obvious that they have lost it! Locusts, law breakers, tax-eating parasites; Very Important Pugilists, thieving leaders, electoral robbers, glorified area boys house of scandals, house of odium, house of malcontents, house of horror; crooks, dishonourable honourables. They have lost the honour to be in the honourable chamber. Their rating has so depreciated that if not for their shamelessness, they will not still be moving freely along the streets of Nigeria. Indeed, ‘with torn shirts, broken arms, ruffled appearances, the picture of a dishonourable house is complete’
