An Action Alliance candidate for the Afikpo North/West constituency for the Ebonyi State House of Assembly in the 2023 election, John-Prince Osmek, has said Nigeria is not ripe for a part-time legislature as currently being canvased by some citizens.
According to him, Nigerians should rather clamour for competent legislators who know what leadership and representation entail, adding that “anything that is part-time will have part-time result.”
He stated this during a meeting with journalists in Abakaliki, on Friday night, stressing that with part-time legislature, lawmakers risked not being dedicated to the process of lawmaking in the country.
He said, “It depends on the reason why people are clamouring for a part-time legislature. But as far as I’m concerned, anything that’s part-time will have part-time result.
“I was thinking people should be clamouring for competent legislators – I mean representatives who have the interest of the people at heart, people who understand the place of leadership in society, people who are willing to lay down their lives and give dividends of democracy to the people. Legislation process talks about lawmaking for the people; and the legislator is someone collectively chosen by his people to represent them in a chamber where laws are made in favour of the people in the land.
“When you say part-time, it means people will definitely engage themselves in their various fields of endeavours and come back once or twice a week to make laws for the people. When people have not committed their 100 per cent to a process that will take care of or govern how people live, whatever input they make will be in a haste. And remember rashness in any undertaking is disastrous.
“This is the reason that when a legislator is not given enough time to rest, articulate and ponder on issues that border on his people, he won’t make legislation that will stand the test of time.
“I do not believe in part-time legislation, because it won’t help our people. Now, can you equate the efficacy and effectiveness of a part-time pastor with that of full-time pastor? No. They can’t be the same, and this is the same thing with part-time and full-time legislation.”
He equally lamented the current alleged deteriorating state of the Ebonyi State University and called on Governor David Umahi to, as a matter of urgency, expedite action towards restoring the past academic excellence of the institution.
reports that EBSU currently faces existential threat as lecturers presently leave the institutions for others around and overseas in droves in search for better working conditions.
He added, “The question on EBSU is interesting, because I believe that before now I knew the Law Department of the institution was the best across the entire country. If that was the case before and something near imperfect is happening now, I suggest we should check where we got it all wrong.
“This is because everything rises and falls on leadership. It could as a result of administrative reasons that are bedevilling the institution currently that have caused its erstwhile glory to go down. It could also be that staff welfare is no longer encouraging. You know, at times, when you don’t take adequate care of those who run your business for you, they will no longer manage it well for you. This automatically kills the ownership mindset and pose within your workers.
“It’s my earnest belief that the welfare of the lecturers there are no longer taken care of. I am aware that the institution used to do well academically and so, the administration of the school should be checked. The leadership should be checked. And staff welfare ought to improve because there must be something that has gone wrong that makes it difficult for the school to rise above its current alleged poor state.”
