Legislature Is The Most Misunderstood Arm of Government In Nigeria -Lawmaker, Sola Giwa

While many Nigerians are quick to point accusing fingers at the legislature for the numerous problems confronting the nation, a lawmaker has put the whole blame on the constant military intervention in the country.

Speaking during an interview recently, Hon. Sola Giwa, who is representing Lagos Island Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, said that there would always be the executive and the judicial arms of government at any point in time, but that the legislative arm of government exists only during democracy.

Sola Giwa

According to him, most Nigerians grew up under dictatorship, and most people do not appreciate the legislature because of this.

“The legislature is the most misconstrued and the most misunderstood arm of government. When you talk about building democracy, you are building legislature. Anytime we truncate democracy, we truncate legislature,” he said.

On the kind of people that are elected into the legislature, Giwa said that every society has the kind of leadership it deserves, adding that once the people want someone, the person would represent them, unlike the likes of  the late head of state, Gen. Sanni Abacha and some other past leaders of the country, who he said people did not want.

He explained that fighting on the floor of the Assembly as it sometimes happen in the National Assembly and some state assemblies, is not peculiar to Nigeria as he said that democracy has been in China for many years and that they still fight and throw chairs there.

The lawmaker condemned a situation, where Nigerians discriminate between the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly unlike what he said happens in the US that we copy, which he said does not discriminate between the lower and upper chambers of the Assembly.

Hon. Giwa commended President Muhammadu Buhari for visiting  the United States of America recently, saying that it was a right step to take so that they could help the country fight terrorism and bring back the Chibok Girls, who were forcefully abducted in their schools by suspected members of Boko Haram.

He explained further that the people working with President Buhari would support him to avoid the mistakes he said the past government made and that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government is a meticulous one, which, according to him is the reason ministers have not been appointed.

On the return of motorcycle (okada) riders to Lagos roads, the lawmaker said that okada should not be used a a means of transportation in Lagos as a mega city.

“What we need is an integrated, inter-modal transportation. Apart from the issue of okada accidents, motorcycles are depleting the ozone layer as they use spoke engines, and they do not break down the fuel they are using. Okada is not generating any employment as none of its part is made in Nigeria. It is also being used to commit crime. We have 9,001 roads in Lagos and they were restricted from less than 500 roads. It was the people of each community that complained about okada in these places,” he said.

He accused Lagosians of politicising everything and accused some of them of bringing sentiment to the issue of okada, which he said was the reason  they were back on the roads before the last general elections.

“After the election, we were back to square one as the okadas were operating on restricted roads. It is not good to play politics with governance. The press too should not sensationalise all these things. Nothing has changed, the law still remains intact. We didn’t need to give ultimatum to someone that is breaking the law. The police, VIO and LASTMA should just enforce the law on okada operation on Lagos roads,” he said.