By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the 9th House, with unwavering courage and determination, defended the rights and dignity of the Nigerian people abroad from every attempt to dehumanise and victimise them.
He explained that the House’s interventions on behalf of Nigerians in China during the pandemic put an end to recurrent incidents of abuse, just as our efforts on behalf of Nigerians in South Africa and Ghana caused the governments of those nations to step up action to protect the lives and property of Nigerian citizens in those countries.
The Speaker who said this during a valedictory speech on Wednesday in Abuja added that from Ghana to South Africa, from China to the United States of America, the 9th House, made it clear that this will defend the rights of Nigerian citizens to conduct their legitimate businesses without fear of molestation and that the wellbeing of Nigerians remains their business whether home or abroad.
He said, “This model of parliamentary diplomacy has become a legitimate tool for back-channel interventions to resolve conflicts involving our citizens around the world. It is an approach that ought to be sustained and improved”.
In the effort of the 9th House to ensure the security of life and property, the Speaker said, “We convened a Summit on National Security to examine our national security and defence infrastructure and identify critical areas of improvement. I hope that work to ensure our borders are secure and our people are safe will continue in the next assembly and throughout government”.
He also disclosed that through the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP), they initiated a new and promising framework for antiparliamentary cooperation across the continent to address their shared challenges and build better networks for collaboration, progress, and prosperity.
“This effort should continue in the best interests of our country and continent,” he added.
Gbajabiamila, also said, Nigeria is an unfinished story, a long tale of promise and peril, and that the nation’s final chapters have not been written yet.
He said, some persons believe that this grand nation is a victim of history, that our destiny has already long been written, and that we cannot escape from it, stressing, “I do not subscribe to this view”.
He said, “I reject it entirely. Indeed the world today is being remade by profound and powerful forces, and it may seem our destiny no longer lies within our control. But we are a proud and resilient people with a limitless capacity for excellence. All that we hope to be, we can. All that we desire is within reach.
“Our greatest successes as a nation will come when we work together across party lines, without considering differences of tribe and tongue, religion and creed towards the shared goals of our nationhood – peace and prosperity, equity and justice for all.”
He added, “As we bring this 9th House of Representatives to a close, I am proud to say that by our joint effort at nation-building, we have ensured that the cause of Nigeria will long endure and the dreams of our nation’s founding fathers will not die. We came, we saw, and while there is much yet to conquer, we have done our duty to God and country.”
