A civil liberty group, Peace Action Transformation (PACT), on Thursday, described the late former Senate President, Dr. Joseph Wayas, as a bridge-builder and lover of masses.
Wayas, who was senate president between 1979 and 1983, died in the early hours of Thursday at a London hospital, at the age of 80.
National Coordination of PACT, Mr. Adegboyega Adeniji, said that Wayas would be remembered for standing on the side of the people when he led the senate.
Adeniji said: “We thank God for his life. He lived a fulfilled life as a Nigerian, being able to occupy the number three position in the Second Republic.
“He was a gentleman and very accommodating during his time. He was a bridge-builder and throughout his tenure as senate president, there was peace.
“He was always on the side of the people and never pampered the executive.”
The national coordinator added that the office of the leader of the legislature was properly handled and distinct from the position of the executive during Wayas’ leadership.
This, according to him, is lacking nowadays.
“The greatest disservice to this nation is the inability of our legislature to represent the interest of the people.
“The executive arm can decide to do as it likes but the lawmakers, who are carrying the mandates of a particular segment of the nation before coming to the National Assembly collectively to aggregate our views, should stand by the people.
“The legislators nowadays are doing lots of disservice to the Nigerian people by hobnobbing with the executives at the detriment of the people,” he added.
Adeniji called on the present crop of political leaders to always strive to serve the people and bequeath a sustainable development for humanity.
He said called on those aspiring to be in the legislature in the next dispensation to learn from the late senate president.
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The national coordinator said that the legislature should always stand on the side of the people and shun any tendency to neglect those they were supposed to represent.
“The lesson is for in-coming legislators to appreciate that the essence is life is service to humanity and they must be able to conquer selfishness in order to achieve this.
NAN reports that the late Wayas, who was also the Deputy Chairman of the 1994 National Constitutional Conference, was multi-linguistic, as he could speak Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba languages fluently. (NAN)
