The House of Representatives on Tuesday assured Nigerians living in rural dwellings of infrastructural development across the country.
The Chairman, House Committee on Rural Development, Marcus Onobun stated this at the inaugural meeting of the Committee in Abuja.
He said, “This is one committee that directly affects the 360 members of the House as we all represent rural communities.
“In fact, it is important to note that it is the constituents of these rural areas that chose us to represent them for them to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
“If you look closely at the composition of all the committees, you’ll discover that this Committee is one of the few that has exceeded the membership number of 40 prescribed by the House. This goes to show the importance of the committee.”
Stressing the difficulties faced by past Chairmen of the Committee, Onobun who represents Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency, Edo States said, “In discharging their functions, previous Chairmen of this Committee were severely hampered and restricted to certain Ministries, Departments, and Agencies but I will be doing things a little differently for us to collectively achieve our objectives and also make meaningful impact in the lives of millions of Nigerians who reside in the rural areas.”
He expressed his readiness to work with every member of the committee, saying “I am willing to draw from your wealth of legislative, business, and individual expertise in discharging my duties so we can collectively deliver on the arduous task that has been laid on our shoulders.
“I am open to opinions and also novel ideas on how to navigate the diverse landscape of our different communities, peculiar developmental demands of our constituents, resistant nature of the civil service, opportunity cost of resource allocation and ensuring effective legislative oversight that bothers on transparency and accountability towards the Nigerian people who are the main beneficiaries of everything we’ll be doing in this committee.
“For me, success is the word and we must do everything to make this committee proud.
Also speaking, Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Mohamud Audu called on stakeholders’ cooperation to drive rural development in the country.
Members of the panel who spoke at the inaugural meeting all pledged their readiness to work with the leadership of the committee to realize its mandate.
