The decade of the 1960s could be described as the golden age of reform and revolution in the United States and indeed the global arena as a series of cataclysmic and turbulent events, occurrences, developments and breakthroughs in the economic, cultural, social, political, scientific and technological spheres all contributed to demarcate that epoch as perhaps the most enthralling, breathtaking and momentous decade of all time in all its positive and negative ramifications. It was the decade that saw the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the election of the youngest American President, John F. Kennedy and his subsequent assassination, Chinas entry into the nuclear club, the historic moon landing, the formation of the Non-Aligned movement, the independence revolution in Africa, the anti-Vietnam war movement, the black civil rights movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King and Senator, Robert Kennedy, the Biafran Civil War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Six Day War amongst other defining events.However it is difficult to forget that the tumultuous decade began on an optimistic and euphoric note with the election of the forward looking John F. Kennedy and his articulate and erudite New Frontiers team comprising of Robert .F. Kennedy, MacGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, John McNamara, John Cabot Lodge, Arthur Schlesinger Jnr, Roger Hilsman and General Maxwell Taylor who were famously referred to as the Best and the Brightest for their unrivalled competence, intellectual sagacity, unvarnished loyalty and principle dedication to the ethos and tenets of the Pan-African enterprise.The political, pedagogical and intellectual prowess of President Kennedy and his diligent bunch of New Frontiersmen found renewed validation and replication, a generation later and thousands of kilometers away in Nigeria with the inauguration of the 7th House of Representatives where an agile confident and energetic crop of federal legislators took the centre stage in profoundly asserting the inalienable rights of their long suffering constituents as the ultimate beneficiaries of the much heralded dividends of democracy. The young, vibrant and charismatic legislative wunder kinders in the 7th House consisted of Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-sudi, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Hon. Aliyu Ibrahim Gebi, Hon. Shehu Bawa, Hon. Haruna Manu, Hon. Sani Legbo Kutigi, Hon. Chris Azubogu, Hon. Kyari Gujbawu, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, Hon. Bethel Amadi and Hon. Albert Sam-Tsokwa amongst other illustrious charter members of the Best and Brightest apogee.Among the Best and Brightest constellation, some have moved to the state executive level (Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Deputy Governor Haruna Manu), others have taken position at the federal level (Hon. Aliyu Gebi and his compatriot, Hon. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar) while the amiable Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara has fortuitously emerged as the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, the third most powerful office holder in the land.In the case of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Hon. Aliyu Gebi and Amb. Maitama Tuggar, it must be emphasized that they went through an uphill battle to consolidate the position, prestige and influence of the APC in Bauchi State against near overwhelming odds exemplified by the all-pervading omnipresence of the then ruling PDP exemplified by the autocratic Governor Isa Yuguda and his frequent utilization of the ubiquitous federal law enforcement agents in intimidating, harassing and oppressing members of the opposition CPC, ANPP and ANC parties later to metamorphose into the APC.Despite the larger than life posturing of the PDP, the trio of Dogara, Gebi, Tuggar and other APC stalwarts were able to mount an effective, co-ordinated and redoubtable phalanx of opposition and dissidence which ultimately rallied an unstoppable peoples power revolution that effectively cashiered the PDP to a decisively humbled opposition party at the state and federal levels. However, the ultimate beneficiaries of a revolution may not be those that actually kickstarted or midwifed the process, just ask Comrade Leon Trotsky, Che Guevara or Joshua Nkomo all of blessed memory. While Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara was deservedly returned to the House of Representatives by the voters of Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro/Dass Federal Constituency, the quirky nature of electoral primary politics intervened to deny Hon. Aliyu Gebi and Hon. Yusuf Tuggar of their legitimate aspirations to represent their people at the federal legislative and state executive levels respectively. While the terrific duo were working assiduously to cement the APC structures in Bauchi State and beyond, other less salutary figures were banding together to deny them of the deserved fruits of their long, tortuous and tempestuous struggle against the revanchism and depredations of the PDP.However, Bauchi States loss is undoubtedly Nigerias gain as Hon. Aliyu Gebi and Hon. Maitama Tuggar, SSA to the Honourable Minister of Interior and Nigerian Ambassador designate respectively are ably acquitting themselves in their various executive portfolios thus further enriching and re-invigorating the administrative, operational, organizational desiderata of their respective establishment. Indeed the Best and Brightest cognoscenti of the 7th House of Representatives have continued to raise the bar of competence, dedication, vibrancy, creativity, ingenuity and exemplary performance to record highs and with the ascendancy of the likes of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Hon. Aliyu Gebi, Hon. Maitama Tuggar, Hon. Shehu Bawa, Hon. Haruna Manu and Hon. Ibrahim El-sudi in the nations executive and legislative firmament, the best is yet to come and the sky is only both a platform for the realization of their boundless and limitless hopes, dreams and aspirations. To God be the Glory. Asadu wrote in from Abuja
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