Remark by the president of the Senate his excellence (Dr.) Abubakar Bukola saraki on the inauguration of the Senate committees on Monday 23 November 2015
Protocol,
It gives me great pleasure to be inaugurating the Senate Committees on
Education (Basic & Secondary), Women Affairs, Petroleum Upstream,
Petroleum Downstream, Gas, Employment, Labour & Productivity,
Establishment & Public Service, Committee on Culture and Tourism,
Special Duties, Sports and Committee on States & Local Government,
this afternoon.
By this inauguration, we begin the full implementation of our vision
to make laws that will impact positively on our people. The task ahead
of us is enormous. However, I am delighted with the level of
commitment and zeal already exhibited by Senators towards the
challenge we have ahead. I am also pleased with the constitution of
the committees being inaugurated today.
I want to thank all those who helped to put together the membership of
the committee for their effort.
As I said previously, the committee system is at the heart of our
legislative processes and activities. It remains the veritable tool
that a democratic legislature must rely on for some of its most
important works including considering, shaping, and passing bills. The
effectiveness of our ability to carry out our oversight functions and
expose corruption squarely rest on the effectiveness of our committee
systems. It is in this context that you must therefore measure the
importance and level of responsibility attached to your membership of
these committees.
Therefore, I do not need to remind you to take your assignments very seriously.
In selecting members of these committees, your background experience,
knowledge, passion and the highest standard of legislative competence
that will help the 8th Senate achieve its legislative agenda was
compelling aside the need for balance.
You have been chosen also because we have a great task ahead, to think
outside of the box. I expect that you will work to affirm this choice
by discharging your duties diligently. In this regard, regular
attendance to meetings cannot be overstressed.
The leadership of all Senate committees must take care to run an
inclusive structure and avoid creating an impression that the affairs
of the committee is a one-man show. This Senate will not tolerate this
because it is against the spirit and commitment embodied in our
legislative agenda which we have freely given to ourselves. Again, the
8th Senate expects that you will immediately roll up your sleeves and
face the work ahead. We also expect that you will treat all bills and
reports referred to the committees expeditiously especially those
relating to our legislative agenda. The same applies to all your
oversight reports.
This 8th Senate takes ethics very seriously. It is my expectation that
in your dealings with government agencies, you will observe highest
ethical standards in discharging your duties.
You must realize that you are a mirror that citizens will continuously
cast their gaze upon. Your behaviour will determine to a large extent
how the larger society will perceive every one of us. You must take
care that you do not bring ethical questions upon this hallowed
chamber. You must bear that in mind as you make your ethical choices
while carrying out your duties. Any committee member found in an
ethically doubtful behaviour will be sanctioned by this Senate. I
have also enjoined management and clerks to observe high standards of
ethical behaviour in all their engagement with and for the committees
especially on all oversight functions.
The Senate leadership today is willing and ready to support the
committees with all that is needed to carry out its assignments
including adequate funding. I expect you to be innovative and
broadminded, learn and bring on board any relevant ingredient from
outside jurisdictions that will enrich the quality and content of our
law-making.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
The 8th Senate is keenly aware of the dwindling fortunes of our
educational institution and the need to develop and implement a series
of programs to revitalise basic education and secondary education. The
Senate Committee on Education is charged with charting the course of
the Senate’s response. The 8th Senate’ expectation is that before the
end of the session, the committee would put in place a roadmap of
necessary legislative interventions to revamp Basic education and
Secondary school system as a whole with a framework that will directly
target technical growth and competition.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN AFFAIRS
Empowering women to participate fully in our economic, social and
political life across all sectors is essential to build a stronger
Nigerian economy. This principle is at the core of the Senate
decision to elevate the status of Women Affair in the National
Assembly to a full-fledged standing committee. Study has shown that
societies that protects women and ensure their inclusion of women’s
talents, skills and energies through intentional actions and
deliberate policies are more likely to develop than those who don’t.
The Senate will continue to show deliberateness in supporting and
strengthening women’ participation in our socio economic and political
life through our committees and other organs of the Senate.
PETROLEUM UPSTREAM, PETROLEUM DOWNSTREAM & GAS COMMITTEES OF THE SENATE.
The oil and gas industry remains the lifeblood of the Nigerian
economy. The industry is going through a downturn period which
presents also the opportunity for us to reform the local industry to
meet with changing times. Attempts in the past to reform the industry
through the Petroleum Industry Bill have not been able to go full
circle for variety of reasons.
Significantly, the Senate this time around has adopted the PIB as one
of our legislative agenda. We are already working closely with the
executive towards getting the bill passed quickly.
Your committees will be pivotal in achieving this. In a matter of
weeks, the Senate will begin consideration of the first set of bills
on the petroleum industry reforms. The Senate expects that you pay
very close attention to these bills and treat them with dispatch. So
that we can quickly move towards the implementation of the reforms
which have become long overdue.
The Senate has carefully chosen you the members of these committees in
the believe that you are best suited to help the Senate complete the
reform process that will make the Nigeria Oil and gas industry more
adaptive to international best practices.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR & PRODUCTIVITY.
The Senate Committee on Employment, Labour & Productivity is charged
with defining the National employment policy while ensuring that the
rights and privileges of Nigerian workers are not trampled upon. It
goes without saying that our productivity as a nation is a measure and
reflection of the state of our human resource and the general working
environment availed our citizens at work. It is therefore important
that we once again apply ourselves to adopting policies that would
engender better working environment where competition and merit is
fundamental.
The APC government has made employment generation a major policy
direction of the government, this is in tandem with the Senate
Legislative Agenda recently adopted.
The Senate will be relying upon you to provide it direction to help
the Executive achieve the goal of employing our teeming unemployed
youths. You must also help us carry out adequate oversight on the
activities of employers to ensure that Nigerians are not subjected to
work place abuse.
COMMITTEE ON ESTABLISHMENT & PUBLIC SERVICE.
This committee is the penultimate committee engaging with the
structures and systems of our public service and the leadership of our
public service systems. Painfully, the public service system seems to
have lost traction in terms of developing and strengthening national
productivity and innovation in the public service. The committee on
Establishment and Public Service has the unenviable task of leveraging
on its oversight powers and other legislative machinery to cause the
realization of a positive, efficient and effective public service that
is not only responsive but efficient. The anti-corruption drive of the
executive must be strengthened by your committee’s prompt exposure of
sleaze, malpractice and circumvention of due process in the service.
Our public institutions must be seen to function effectively with very
little waste.
COMMITTEE ON CULTURE AND TOURISM
The state of our nation’s economy today further reinforces the urgent
need to initiate deliberate and sustained efforts towards diversifying
our mono product economy which is largely dependent on crude oil.
The culture and tourism industry is a veritable means of driving the
renaissance of a vibrant economic activity in Nigeria. Indeed the
indicators are extremely encouraging. Our country’s movie industry is
ranked second in the world. However our dance, tourism and music are
huge potentials that remain largely untapped. I therefore urge members
of the committee on Culture and Tourism to develop strategies to
harness these opportunities and further ensure that our tourist sites
are developed and made appealing enough to attract foreign direct
investments. Promoting trade through the arts is a critical ingredient
for the country’s socio-economic development.
COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL DUTIES
One very critical committee necessary for legislative intervention in
matters of social welfare and public safety is the committee on
Special Duties. Its responsibilities cut across various sectors and
agencies and as such demands a high degree of organizational
efficiency and resourceful dexterity.
The measure of your committee’s proactive initiative and timely
response to national issues will to a large extent determine the level
of attainment of government policies
and programmes for national development. We must therefore, at all
times be ready to attend to issues bordering on the wellbeing of our
people.
THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON PRIVATISATION.
Privatisation has remained a core policy direction of our government.
This is in recognition of the globally acclaimed vital role the
private capital could play in raising national productivity and
reducing the burden on government to provide services that the private
sector is more fitted to carry.
But something has been wrong with our program, they have not produced
to the expected levels. We have seen public assets degrade and
unemployment widen as a result of the failure of privatisation in
vital areas of our economy. Does this then mean that privatisation is
a wrong policy? Far from it. Privatisation remains our best choice but
we must find out why we have not had the result that others have had.
We will be relying on your committee to advise the Senate on ways of
sorting the grey areas and give new direction and the right impetus to
this critical policy again.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON SPORTS
There are very few sectors of our economy that can compete with sports
in terms of its value orientation, social capital development, youth
empowerment to act as a rallying point for national unity and
cohesion.
This makes developing a comprehensive sports development policy very
imperative. There is no overstating the need to look at developing our
sports broadly as well as incorporating the active investment,
sponsorship and collaboration of the private sector. The task before
you is clear in this regards.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
Nigeria is a federation of states and the local governments remain a
very veritable instrument for development.
It is high time we paid more attention to the institutional
capabilities of the states and the local governments to deliver
effective public service.
While this committee was set up to act as a liaison with state
governments and local governments, boundary matters and their general
administration, it is now much more important to see the committee
advise the Senate on how we can elevate the capabilities of the states
and local governments to deliver adequate and qualitative public
service to Nigerian citizens by sharing information and peer reviews
and also through oversight relationships.
Without a proactive engagement across the states and the local
government areas especially in information sharing and value sharing,
it will be hard to evolve an all-inclusive economy with inclusive
growth.
Distinguished colleagues, invited guests, the 8th Senate has put
innovative mechanisms in place to empower our committees to act
efficiently and independently in the discharge of their duties.
Necessary resources will be made available to cover relevant
activities of the committee in line with approved guidelines. Let me
assure you that there will be no need to look elsewhere for resources
to carry out your legitimate duties.
May I use this opportunity to commend the Clerk of the National
Assembly and National Assembly Management and you Distinguished
Senators who have worked hard to ensure that this inauguration is
successful. I wish the committee the very best.
I hereby inaugurate;
The Senate Committee on Basic & Secondary School Education
The Senate Committee on Women Affairs
The Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream
The Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream
The Senate Committee on Gas
The Senate Committee on Employment, Labour & Productivity
The Senate Committee on Establishment & Public Service
The Senate Committee on Culture & Tourism
The Senate Committee on Special Duties
The Senate Committee on Sports
The Senate Committee on States & Local Governments.
Thank you.
Senator (Dr) Abubakar Bukola Saraki
PRESIDENT OF SENATE