The stuff a seasoned lawmaker is made of is not judged by the number of roads he constructed in his village or the number of kinsmen he is able to give employment but by his contribution to societal development through quality legislations. This is why Soros, the 5th century Greek lawmaker is considered the greatest lawmaker of all times in spite of the fact that he has no single developmental project to his name. Soros’ achievement for which he is revered as a god to this day is that he saved the Greek city state from eminent collapse by developing and pushing through legislations that reconciled the democrats and oligarchs who before his intervention, were heading towards a cataclysmic confrontation.
Any careful observer of events in the Anambra State House of Assembly in the past 8 years would have noticed that there are lawmakers in the rank of Soros who have risen to the occasion of legislative governance and thrown in their all, to save the state from the brink. Such lawmakers deserve commendations from their constituents even if they do not say so. Also, since the reward for job well done in Africa is often said to be more jobs, these lawmakers deserve not just commendation but recommendation as well.
While there are few of such lawmakers in the current 7th Assembly of the Anambra State House of Assembly, the most distinguished of them is Hon. Pete Ibida, member representing Njikoka II in the state assembly. As mentioned already, the specific job of lawmakers is lawmaking, however, the love Hon. Ibida has for his people has in the past 8 years driven him beyond his role as a lawmaker to engage in pure executive responsibilities such as infrastructural developments and empowerment programmes. From Dunukofia to Njikoka and Anaocha, widows are empowered, youths are trained in different form of cutting edge skills and state of the art health centres and other amenities are springing up all over the places thanks to the seasoned lawmaker from Nimo, Hon. Pete Ibida.
In the floor of the House, Hon. Ibida is not only a lion in the ring but is also a political genius and bridge builder. Take for instance, in 2018 when many lawmakers rose in arms against the Rt. Hon. Rita Maduagwu led Assembly in a bid to destabilize Obiano’s progressive and inclusive administration. There were many lawmakers who were not happy with the issuing development but who lacked the required courage to take the bull by the horn. It was Hon. Ibida who stood firm and deployed his legislative wizardry to neutralize the crisis. Thus, Ibida is seen by the other Hon. Members in the House as a stabilizing hand in the State’s parliamentary business. He has a reputation for playing the supportive role to get the system to work and produce optimal results.
His enormous contributions to the House have not gone unnoticed by the other Hon. Members the reason why he has been appointed to different envious and choicy positions. At the beginning of this year (2022), Hon. Ibida was unanimously appointed by the APGA leadership to be the Chief Whip of the House in recognition of his previous contributions and loyalty to the party. Announcing the appointment, the Speaker of the House Mr. Uche Okafor said the leadership of APGA which is the majority party in the House chose Ibida in recognition of his contributions both to APGA and Ndi Anambra.
Also, as the Vice Chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Public Finance, Ibida has played a part in managing the State’s financial profile. Anambra State currently ranks the sixth least indebted among Nigeria’s 36 States.
In 2019, Hon. Ibida sponsored the Anambra State Tertiary Institutions Activities Regulation Bill. The proposed legislation which has been passed into law seeks to develop and raise common standards in the state-owned higher institutions.
As already noted, more striking perhaps is that Ibida’s engagement representation resonates with his constituents. Residents in the locality view Ibida as accessible and listening. From scholarships to free health services to economic empowerment programmes, it’s a long tale of how he has continued to meet the needs of his people.
A cabinet chief in his town, Nimo, Ibida has been acknowledged for a fair spread of the projects he attracted in the three communities of his constituency. Chieftaincy titles and letters of appreciations from town leaderships and other groups attest to the spirit of appreciation and thanks for job well-done by his constituents.
And now, there are growing clamour and calls on Hon. Ibida to take his inimitable work to the House of Representatives at the Federal level. Proponents of the Abuja trip say that the shift will benefit the State as it will put more resources in the hand of the seasoned legislator and enable him to do more. They contends and I totally agree, that since Ibida is able to attract projects at the state level and the Federal Government has more money to spend, sending Ibida to the Federal House will likely translate into more amenities and welfare packages for his people.
The patriotic clamour and calls on Hon. Ibida to run for the Federal House started early 2021 and has been observed with keen interest by him. Now that Hon. Ibida has widely consulted and is ready to answer the call of his people, it becomes most advisable and compelling that the delegates of Dunukofia, Njikoka and Anaocha Federal Constituency in the upcoming APGA primaries are reminded of their civic and moral responsibilities to their people. Ibida is the people’s choice and parochial interest must not be allowed to prevail over the common good.
