Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives literarily found themselves swimming against the tide last week.
This was evident in the grumbles of some NASS members in the period leading up to government announcement of school resumptions amid resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawmakers had expressed deep reservations over inadequate consultations by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, and its hasty reopening of educational institutions, especially the universities which had been shut for nearly a year.
This incident, among others, characterized events at NASS last week.
On January 16, the House of Representatives faulted the Federal Government for giving schools the go-ahead to reopen despite the increasing cases of COVID-19.
The lawmakers bared their minds in a statement issued by the Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, in Abuja.
“They did not consult us; at least in my committee, nobody from the ministry spoke to me. I have been in Abuja. And I am not sure that they spoke to any of my members. They just don’t see us as part of the critical stakeholders,” Ihonvbere said.
He added: “We are particularly concerned that when the infection rates hovered around 500 and under, schools were closed; but now that it hovers well above 1,000 infections daily, schools are being reopened. Why are we rushing to reopen schools without adequate verifiable and sustainable arrangements to protect and secure our children?”
Ihonvbere’s outburst adds to the long list of claims of poor synergy observed in the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government.
Unfortunately, it also deepens the longstanding perception that the executive holds little regard for the other arms, and would rather emasculate them where it deemed necessary.
Instructively, many years after leaning on democratic principles for guidance, the institutions of state appear not to be maturing very quickly but rather what has been witnessed is the rise of strong individuals who show little respect for rules of engagement in a democracy.
But in crying out loud, the lawmakers must appreciate that they have, over the years, made themselves weeping boys by failing to assert their authority, thereby laying the foundations for a disdainful treatment by the executive.
