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In this interview with journalists, Mrs. Doris Uboh-Adekoya, who
represented Ika Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between
2007and 2011, speaks about her time at the House and her desire to return. JOHN ALECHENU was there.
So
much has changed in the House of Representatives since you left in 2011. What
lessons have you learnt?
I
have learnt a lot of lessons. It is possible to by Feven 1.5" style="min-height: 0px ! important;
min-width: 0px ! important;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:0%;float:none" id="_GPLITA_0">win your election on the field but you may not
actually get your seat. My experience has been a terrible one; you must follow
your votes not just at your ward but all the way to the collation centre
because if you fail to do so, a lot of things can happen. Eventually in my own
case, results were manipulated and the rest is history.
So, why do you want to return to the House?
I
say why not because everybody says we must build Nigeria but I am yet to find
such people called ‘we’. All I am trying to do is to contribute my own quota to
nation building. I do not think because I was pushed off the horse once, I
should stop by Feven 1.5" style="min-height: 0px ! important;
min-width: 0px ! important;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:0%;float:none" id="_GPLITA_2">learning how to ride a horse. If I do that, then I will
not know how to ride a horse. I believe anything worth doing is worth doing
well. I believe that the journey of a thousand miles, starts in one day. There
might be pitfall, but if you say because of that pitfall you will go back, then
you will never see the light at the end of the tunnel. There are so many things
to be done in Nigeria.
While
in the House of Reps, you co-sponsored the Minimum Wage Bill… (cuts in)
Point
of correction, I did not co-sponsor the bill, I sponsored it. Not because
other members did not want to but because a lot of people wanted to stay away
from controversial bills. If you look at the controversial bills, they are
usually the ones that belonged to the underdogs. To me, the common man is the
reason we are in the House of Reps. We are there to represent them. The Minimum
Wage Bill was something I started and it went all the way to the third reading.
Coincidentally, an executive bill came to by Feven 1.5" style="min-height: 0px ! important;
min-width: 0px ! important;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:0%;float:none" id="_GPLITA_1">meet my bill and the bills were merged together to
become one. Eventually, it was accented to and became a law. I think that is
the singular thing I can say I am really proud of and I will like to be given
another chance in the House to even do more because we have a lot of issues in
Nigeria that need to be attended to. I think it was a rather positive thing for
me that I was able to stand up for what I believed in.
Would you say you are satisfied with the outcome of the bill?
No,
I would not say I am. I think it needs to be amended. If you compare our
minimum wage bill, the way it by Feven 1.5" style="min-height: 0px ! important;
min-width: 0px ! important;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:0%;float:none" id="_GPLITA_5">stands today, to most West African countries, it is
still not enough. They should have included how often they want the increment
to be. Things like that should be included in the bill. That way, the Nigeria
Labour Congress will not be coming to argue about increment because it would
have been embedded in the bill. But it was not done, it ended up been a one
liner and I think that needs to be looked at again to serve the purpose it was
expected to serve.
You served in the House of Reps during the Dimeji Bankole era. Can you
recall your experience?
I
think my experience is out there for everybody to know. It was good, bad and
ugly but I took it all in strides. I did not expect it to be all rosy. Dimeji
Bankole led us to the best of his capacity, though to me, his best was not good
enough but he did what he could and it was an experience. Rightly or wrongly,
it was an experience. I have taken it and I am by Feven 1.5" style="min-height: 0px ! important;
min-width: 0px ! important;background-attachment:scroll;background-position-x:
0%;background-position-y:0%;float:none" id="_GPLITA_3">learning from it.
Can you compare the Bankole era to the Aminu Tambuwal era?
I
am not in the house presently.
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