Group Politics Editor, Taiwo Adisa, examines the challenges ahead of the new Senate as well as Senate's pact with Nigerian people, as enunciated by the Senate President, David Mark, at the start of the seventh session of the new National Assembly.At the start of the Sixth Senate,presided over by Senator DavidBonaventure Mark, there was a pervading air of uncertainty. Coupled with the state of suspicion that characterised the relationship between main actors at the executive arm and that of the Senate, there was hardly a space for direct engagement of the citizens at the commencement of activities of Assembly. It was not until midway into the tenure of the Sixth Senate that the suspicion started giving way for understanding. At that time, however, the space left was only utilised for consolidation.At the beginning of the Seventh Senate, however, the relationship between the legislature and the executive arm has improved. It was, therefore, not surprising that Mark, who was given the nod to continue as President of the Senate in June, was able to roll out a contract between the Senate and the Nigerian people. In a way, experience also counted, as Mark had relied on the deft nature he navigated the potentially cantankerous Sixth Senate out of troubled waters to start on a far more stable note in 2011.So, as the senators returned to the chambers on September 13, after the long recess, the Senate President had perfected issues regarding committee standings for members as well as the social contract the chamber was ready to enter into with Nigerians. It was like a code of conduct for the new Senate and it was well adopted by the 109 members of the upper chamber.Before laying out the letters of the social contract, Mark went on to paint the picture of the prevailing circumstances in Nigeria. He stated that some agents of darkness are attempting to seize the nation and turn it into a theatre of bloodshed and agony. Mark insisted that the Senate would not rest on its oars in giving due assistance to agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of maintaining peace and security.He stated: 'Distinguished colleagues, permit me to note, albeit most sadly, that in the past few months, our dear nation has come under grievous attacks by forces of darkness and agents of insecurity and destabilisation. Innocent lives have been mindlessly wasted and properties wantonly destroyed through bomb explosions and related acts of violence.Emotions have been ruptured, rivers of tears ripped open, and the land needlessly drenched with the blood of hapless innocent citizens. Indeed, what we have witnessed is gravely discordant with our cultural and religious values of the sanctity of life and our age long tradition of being our brothers' keeper. I have no doubt, therefore, that you share my view that this is most deplorable and totally unacceptable. We must address the issue of insecurity squarely, head on once and for all.'He stated the resolve of the chamber to work for a Nigeria where everyone will be assured of living in lasting and thrive without fear.The Senate president said that the lawmakers were ready to up the ante of the search for peace in the land as a sensitive parliament. He added that the passage of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 was an effort by the lawmakers to boost internal security as well as global security.As lawmakers, who represent the various constituencies that constitute the country, Mark said that legislators have a duty to continuously appeal to all Nigerians to make recourse to dialogue and democratic modes of ventilating their feelings, while also pursuing legitimate courses at all times, as the nation cannot afford to allow its people to continue to live in fear.He submitted further: 'What the times call for is greater collaboration, not only between the Senate and the security agencies, but also between our constituents and us. When evil men conspire, all good men must congregate. We represent every segment of this country from where we draw our mandate and we must, therefore, return to the people and work with them in addressing our security challenges.'The bombers and their sponsors live amongst us. Therefore, our constituents should spare nothing in assisting to find a lasting solution to this national embarrassment. I urge the Federal Government to take decisive steps to stem this ugly tide. It must rise to emphatically make this land most infertile for all sponsors and peddlers of terrorism and anarchy. And in doing this, there must be no sacred cows.Mark also noted the incidences of flood that had ravaged many states and cities in August. He declared that the state of environmental degradation and abuse must stop to ensure every community live without fear of flood. One of the positives, he noted, was the election of his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, as Speaker of the Parliament of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He said it was a major plus for Nigeria's legislative diplomacy.Though the items contained in the new Senate agenda are not totally new to Nigerians, the emphasis, this time, is the need to devote intense energy to the pursuit and actualisation of the agenda. In affirming the new pact, Mark itemised a number of questions:'Should we allow state police' Will it enhance policing duties and reduce criminality in the country''Is the current revenue formula equitable' Will a change in favour of the states enhance the deliverables to the people''Should power distribution be on the Exclusive Legislative List' Shouldn't states that invest in power generation be allowed to distribute''Is it necessary to create new states' Will it bring government nearer to the people and address cries of marginalisation''How effective are the local governments' Should they be made to function independently of the states''Is the joint state/local governments account still necessary''He declared that the Senate will not run away from these issues, but deal with them squarely alongside other issues that will guarantee good governance, peace, justice, and development in the country.Mark stated: 'Distinguished colleagues, let me note that constitution amendment remains one of the top priorities of the Seventh Senate. Our success in the electoral reforms is now obvious and has been widely acknowledged after the 2011 general election. I congratulate members of the Sixth National Assembly, once again, for breaking the jinx of the constitution amendment in Nigeria. The onus is, therefore on us to build on this success. We shall endeavour to produce a workable constitution that will stand the test of time.'Nigerians expect us to revisit some fundamental issues such as state creation, the local government system, devolution of powers, revenue allocation, state police, state Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), uniform minimum wage, joint account and other contentious but important issues.'He further said that in pursuing the new legislative agenda, constitution amendment is key. According to him, the new Senate will derive insights from the extent of work done in the Sixth Assembly to empower itself in the task of constitution amendment and the review of Electoral Act 2010.He said that now that elections are over and the tribunals are addressing the aftermaths of the election, the lawmakers should draw from the lessons learnt in the application of 2010 Electoral Act to better its provisions form the 2015 election.'Thus, while the 2010 Act laid the foundation for possibly the best election in our democratic history, like any other human products, it is still not perfect. In our quest to continue to improve our electoral processes, we will work with the INEC, political parties, and other stakeholders to revisit the 2010 Electoral Act to address the issues arising from its operation ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in some states and the 2015 general election,' he said.One way through which the Senate will achieve its desired goals is through capacity building. He said that in line with the determination to actualise the legislative agenda, the National Assembly has flagged off the process of establishing its legislative Institute. This, he said, has become imperative in view of the peculiar circumstances the legislators operate, where a high turnover of lawmakers is almost certainly guaranteed at the end of every session.He stated that already the Sixth National Assembly had enacted the National Legislative Institute Act, 2011 for capacity-building for legislatures in Nigeria and the West African sub-region. In the meantime, he stated that the National Assembly will continue to reach build symbiotic relationships with other parliaments across the world, as well as expose lawmakers to international best practices through interactions and participation in international parliamentary activities.He reported that the Assembly has, through the International Law Institute, Washington DC, 'reinvigorated our relationship with the Congress of the United States of America. This is a strategic relationship, given the fact that both countries operate a presidential system, a federal system, and a bicameral legislature.'I, therefore, expect that there would be great and rewarding cooperation, exchange of ideas, experience, and networking between us and the United States congress in the months ahead, based on mutual respect and benefit.'Besides enunciating the legislative agenda, Mark also highlighted the challenges ahead, saying that the lawmakers are not oblivious of the tasks ahead.He said that the lawmakers would ensure that nation building is a key component of their actions at all times, while also giving the nation the much-desired legislative compass anda sense of direction.'We must rise above the petty divides of ethnicity and religion and join hands together to midwife the birth of one indivisible Nigeria. We must overcome all our differences in the best way known to man, through dialogue and adherence to democratic norms. Democracy by itself cannot make a country, as this must be accompanied by a resolve among the leaders, and, indeed, the led to build a country on the foundations of 'unity and faith, peace and progress,' he said.He sounded a note of warning to his colleagues, most of whom are sitting in the chamber for the first time. According to him, the legislature must strengthen its oversight functions and always listen to the cries of the Nigerian people whom they serve as barometers. The lawmakers must also position themselves to nip in the bud every simmering frustration before they snowball into serious danger. Quoting a former American President, John F. Kennedy, Mark said: 'If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.'He stated that amidst the general challenges of deteriorating infrastructure, energy crisis, and the near total collapse of education, health care, social services and naggingpoverty, the Senate would strive to engage in robust, painstaking and detailed legislation, while also ensuring that the people derive the benefits of good governance.He affirmed and threw a challenge to the civil society: 'This Senate will continue to legislate transparently and firmly and uphold the principle of participatory democracy in all our legislative activities. Parliament remains the people's arm of government; hence, the essence of public hearing, which is based on the presumption that lawmakers do not know it all, and that citizens have an inalienable constitutional right to participate in the making of laws and policies under which they live.'I, therefore, wish to call on Nigerians, the civil society, interest groups and, indeed, all stakeholders to take the opportunity of our public hearings to actively participate and make inputs to the legislative processes. A situation where people would rather sit back and ignore public hearings, only to pick holes with the finished legislative product is hypocritical and antithetical to democracy and good governance.'Senate spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who also spoke to newsmen on the new agenda, said that the Senate has signed a contract with the people, adding that the institution of legislature would want to look back in the next three years and rate itself on the extent of actualisation of the items on the agenda.He said in a media interaction: 'Basically, the agenda of the Seventh Session of the Senate was enunciated by the Senate President in his address to the plenary on September 13, when we resumed from recess. He said essentially that what we are going to do is to tackle some of the contentious issues that continue to weigh this nation down.'Essentially, these are things that are not new to all Nigerians and have been talked about at various forums and they deal with the matter of devolution of power, fiscal federalism, state creation and associated matter of state and local government accounts, the matter of state police, state INEC, minimum wage and revenue allocation formula, whether these things are going to be modified in some way and I think that that is where we are going to concentrate efforts. What everybody is trying to do now is to deal with the very serious problems Nigeria is facing.' This is the legislative agenda that the Senate has, a pact with Nigerians to do the best for the country.
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