By Turaki A. Hassan
Since he assumed office as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has left no one in doubt that he was poised to leave an indelible mark in the sand of times. Within the short period that he has presided over the affairs of the House, Dogara has brought dignity and prestige, not only to the office of the Speaker, but to the House of Representatives as an institution.
But, this is not surprising to close observers of the Speakership. Having won a keenly contested election, he made a solemn promise to his colleagues, and indeed Nigerians, that under his leadership, they “shall wage an unrelenting legislative war on Nigeria’s problems”. And this war, he has continued to wage assiduously to tackle Nigeria’s myriad of problems. Speaker Dogara’s performance so far is as a result of a combination of his upbringing and his leadership skill, honed over time from experiences gathered in various positions he held both as a member of the House of Representatives and as a lawyer.
Born in 1967 in Tafawa Balewa Province of Bauchi State, Dogara rose from a very humble background to the apex of legislative leadership, largely through dint of hard work and favour from God. He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2007 from one of the most diverse constituencies in the country where Christians, Moslems, and many ethnic groups co-exist in peace. It is this potpourri of ethnic and religious mix that made it easy for him to win the confidence of his colleagues across religious and political divides. Under his leadership, the House of Representatives has improved in its duties. Apart from setting up a committee to review outdated laws, the House, under his leadership set a record by passing a total of 130 bills in one day.
It is imperative to point out that in the 7th Assembly, which was rated high in terms of bills passage, 700 bills were presented in four years, while in just one session, about 600 bills were presented in the Green Chamber for consideration under the present leadership and almost 100 of them scaled third reading as at June 9, 2016. As far as Dogara is concerned, to lead is to serve. And service he has been doing to not only his colleagues in the House of Representatives, but to his constituents, his state and indeed, the nation. He has used his vantage position as the Speaker to draw attention to the deprivation of the people in the North-east who have borne the brunt of terrorists. The Speaker , for the first time in the history of the House, stepped down from his exalted chair and presented a motion on the urgent need for the rehabilitation, recovery, resettlement and reconstruction of the north east. Again, he is sponsoring a bill seeking to establish the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) which hopefully will soon be passed into law.In addition, Dogara has also been advocating the convocation of an international donor conference for the rebuilding of the violence-ravaged North-east. This, is in addition to his humanitarian visits to Internally Displaced Persons camps across the country where he takes message of hope to the people.
To him, public office is not meant for personal gains but for public good. It is Dogara’s philosophy that leaders should at all times live exemplary lives of service, sacrifice and selflessness. The Speaker always says that justice is needed in building a civil society, and that for societies to grow, leaders must understand the workings of justice which is necessary in any democracy for equality to thrive. In fact, he strongly believes that establishing both principles is necessary for Nigeria to make any meaningful progress. Dogara’s argument is that for any society to grow and develop, the process of development must start from the base to the top because if you start from the top, you are digging a grave.
It is also his belief that democracy, promises nothing to its citizens other than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That it is these tools of democracy that free citizens can leverage on and harness their potentials to build a greater, peaceful and prosperous society. He practises politics without bitterness. He believes in consensus building. It is his political philosophy that leadership is not a zero sum game and that at all levels and at all times, inclusiveness must be the guiding principle of leadership so that greater good can be delivered for the greater number of the people.
In a show of his political savvy, Dogara conceded the House Leadership position to his opponent in the Speakership election; an act which helped in no small way in stabilising the House in the last one year. The recent show of solidarity to the Speaker by his colleagues when the House reconvened from its annual recess in September is worth a mention because it once again proved the doubting ‘Thomases’ wrong and is an attestation to Dogara’s political prowess and wide acceptablity amongst his colleagues.
For all the years he spent in the National Assembly before becoming Speaker last year, Dogara had built for himself a well known reputation as an incorruptible lawmaker.Indeed, it is a well-known fact that in the 6th Assembly when he chaired the House Committee on Customs and Excise, Hon. Dogara rejected $5 million bribe and went ahead to conduct one of the most credible and thorough investigations that resulted in the reform of the Customs Service. What more can one say about him? As Leadership Newspaper confers this honour on one of Nigeria’s leading legislative icons, this will no doubt spur him to strive harder to impact on the people of Nigeria whose interest is his major concern. It is well deserved.
Indeed, it was in recognition of Dogara’s political prowess and sterling leadership qualities that in June this year, he was conferred with the pretigious Zik Leadership Award for Public Service for year 2015. Interestingly, the Leadership Newspaper Group has also said it chose him for the prestigious award in recognition of his gallant display of political astuteness, quality of social capital and his cosmopilitan disposition.
Hassan is a Media & Public Affairs aide to Speaker Dogara.