Hon. Paul Ohonbamu is the minority leader of the Edo State House of Assembly representing Ego Constituency. He is a man with exceptional political acumen. A lawyer and a human rights activist. In this interview with the Nigerian Observer he speaks on how the bitter battle in Egor was finally resolved and other legislative issues. Please read o n.
Can you give us a little insight into the legislative process in the house?
I will start by saying that in legislation, we are aware that we should depart from the old order. The old order has become characterized by poor husbandary, bad governance, primitive accumulation, arrogance of power, trivialisaton of people’s rights, the pathological fixation on the capture and use of raw powers.
So I told my colleagues from the very beginning that we should begin to address the question of creating an alternative reality superior to the one we met. The bills and motions we have moved are directly in line with the legitimate expectation of the people, it is correct that the colleagues no matter the colouration, are tempted to follow.
So I told my colleagues from the very beginning that we should begin to address the question of creating an alternative reality superior to the one we met. The bills and motions we have moved are directly in line with the legitimate expectation of the people, it is correct that the colleagues no matter the colouration, are tempted to follow. And we must realize that this is not a mono – house unlike before, so we should expect divergent views even though eventually, we come to conclusion or consensus. There are times we speak from separate tables and this leads to cacophony of voices.
You can appreciate that because of the way and manner the house is situated. It is a one-party house. So that’s it, but I think every normal human being must have an internal logos for self evaluation.
When you know that everyone has a sacredness of his personality whether PDP, AC, because at the end of the day, it is the people of Edo state that we have come to serve and that will be our primary goal to the people.
So when we talk of passing the child rights Bill into law for instance, no sane human being would fight against it. Say Edo State children should continue in this squalor, should continue in this backwardness. To me the child Rights Bill is good. And when any thing is good, it is good through and through. Then the tendency to protect and defend the aged after work what becomes of our parents? That necessitated us formulating and bringing to the fore the pensions scheme law.
So at the end of the day, ideas have to be cross fertilized so that we can get consensus. That is exactly what has been happening and I think with time, Edo State will know that we have a good House – with balanced and robust debate so that we can get to where we are going. We have started. We will get there. I have told people that another Edo state is possible.
What is your view on the Egor Local Government Crisis? Ordinarily the Egor crisis ought not to have reached that extent. But when people begin to take up arms and there is crisis, when it degenerates into serious problems, that could be expensive in terms of human life, I cannot say that because PDP is in control of Egor, then Egor that I represent and was duly elected by the people should be ignored. So I have to throw away that coronation of a party because I am representing the people of Egor, that was why I brought the near disastrous situation that happened at Egor to the fore and thank God for the peace that has been restored but as we know, tolerance of aggression will bring more aggression.
When you advice people and they refuse to take the advice things are bound to turn out badly, otherwise what happened was a preventable and avoidable thing. I think the coast is clear now. Whoever has done anything wrong should get penalty for wrong doing, that’s the supreme price everyone must pay – the report has been considered and peace has been returned. The chairman has apologized to the House. Initially after the resolution, he went on air to say we don’t have such rights. That infuriated members of the House the more, I always tell people that in this House we may not have all the money but we have power. Any House made of people who know what they are doing will definitely not fold hands to see the burning issues of the day pass by. You must ask questions.
You must go to the issues and these issues musts be such that concerns the very essence of our existence.
The Egor chairman in the person of Crosby Eribo said. He never knew that the House has powers to do what they did and even more. I think that one is self abasement, he brought down himself. Respect beget respect. When anyone stretches an olive branch, you cannot be rigid to the extent that you don’t know when peace is knocking. That was why it was presented to the House to know what has gone wrong. The committee sat for several days and came out with the report, and it was considered by the House. This led to his return back to office because peace has been restored and the two claiments to the position of the vice has also been settled.
If both of them where still claiming, we would have been taken back to square one because it can still generate crisis. The gravity of what happened has been watered down. There is peace there now and everyone is going about his normal duty. I think this one too will serve as deterrent to other chairmen who will now know that we in the House are watching. People are watching. When we handle issues here we handle issues because we believe that at the end of the day, the people will judge you.
What major impact have you made in the House?
Purposeful robust debates are things that gives me joy. When you are involved in serious dialectical analysis, the one that can move society forward, then we must truly depart from the old order. I am an activist, not a middle course one and this should be reflected in your day to day activities otherwise you would have betrayed the very cause you have fought for. So I am happy now although the first time we entered I was highly criticized. We saw that the civil service employment system was in disarray, the way and manner employment letters were flying up and down . You don’t know the root or source. I was the person who moved that motion for a review of our Civil service system. Many people said Ohonbamu has moved a motion that they should retrench workers. I said no, we are not saying people should be retrenched or sacked but we are saying that employment should not be done as magic. They should see it as a step by step development. It must be manifestly seen to have taken place, it is not magic. Due process must be followed and don’t forget due process is the operational mechanism of good governance and transparency. Once due process is lacking, there is bound to be problems so we say these things must be put in place. Thank God they are happy for it now. Before people will tell you they have just gotten jobs mean while there is embargo on employment. You see, such society will sink any society that drives its members to desperate solution is a non viable society. Another thing that drove me to moving that motion is that you will discover that there are possibilities that our graduates can get jobs in this country but the graduates are frustrated they cannot get jobs, but it is even more painful when you realize that this frustration is based on how what is possible is being frustrated and truncated by some entrenched interest in the society. It was that interest and arrangement that I called upon my colleagues to dismantle and that was precisely what we did. You can see that it is a revolutionary thing when you do it, it may not please people but we cannot go out there to please people all the time. Provided you are genuinely moved by a noble cause to do what you have done then you do it. As fidel Castro said ‘history will absorb me’ when you have done it. I was one of those who joined in preparing the entire bill on the child rights when the debate came up, I took the House to the origin.
How it came about, going to all the international conventions up to Beijing and how the constitution has not taken care specifically of the child. The constitution talks of every man, every person. Every person is all embracing, but we are talking of specifically the child so that it would be codified we know what we are talking about. You know children are more susceptible to the influence of third party and they allow their imagination to rule over them. That makes them very precarious and fragile species we are bound to protect and that was precisely what we did.
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