The spreading, destructive wave of insecurity in various parts of the country and which is the theme of the summit, ordinarily claims a pride of place as it is a sensitive issue that demands prime attention

as succeeding administrations failed to key into the enterprise of their predecessors. As it is in the education sector so is it in health as well as virtually all other sectors of the Nigerian socio-economy.

In deed it does not require a soothsayer to proclaim that much of the present wave of unrests in the country along with their attendant security challenges derive from deep seated resentment among many Nigerians, which now find expression in aggravated protests and anomy - the very reason for the National Assembly Security Summit. By iteration it remains valid to ask if the present state of insecurity could have been averted if the causative tendencies of disorder were addressed early enough through dialogue. Perhaps the country could have been singing a different song by now.

It is therefore by the same logic that the National Assembly needs to explore the prospects of initiating more summits in other areas of disorder in national life as the central institution for promoting dialogue in the country. It is not out of place to see the federal legislature going out of its way to launch sectoral “man”. It makes it harder to achieve the one million number. Not that anyone will be counting when thousands of persons storm Abuja to demand that you run for office in 2019, but I just want to make sure that we get it right.

My suggestion is that you rename it the one million march. At first I thought one million person march might open it up to women and children but then I really think that if for example, some pastoralists want to march along with their cows, we should have the decency to count their cows as part of the march. Because it is hard to force a cow to do anything and their willingness to march for you should not be taken for granted. Also think of the people who will stroll out with their fancy foreign dogs. I hear that in the police force, dogs in the canine unit have ranks and are treated as part of the force. So we should be able to count the dogs which will accompany their handlers to urge you to save Nigeria by ruling us until 2023.

Also, these days that we have a lot of people who are neither male nor female it is important to include all of these individuals in the march. And we cannot name it one million individuals march. First, for the animals I mentioned above and even if you call the animals individuals, it is such a messy name. The One Million March is short, punchy and discriminates against no one. outreaches in the context of summits on various aspects of national life. If nothing else the level of anguish among Nigerians in respect of which the average citizen feels abandoned by the government dictates so. Contemporary street life in Nigeria has degenerated to an abysmal level that seems largely unnoticed by the operatives in the executive branch. Who comes to the rescue of the common man is the legislature. And when the legislature fails in that regard, the people suffer without respite as it is in Nigeria today.

The imperative for the National Assembly to reach out to Nigerians as a body and directly is justified by several factors. Primarily as the constitutionally designated first arm of government at the centre it has a more than a vicarious responsibility to guide the process of governance at every tier of government. The constitution gives it the powers to act as duty bound to demonstrate more visibility before and assertiveness on behalf of the public. It can therefore develop programmes with which it can collaborate with virtually any other stake (s) in the country, to push the agenda of good governance forward.

Legislative summits in other parts of the world serve as ram rods for pushing through critical political agendas whose success depend on consensus. For a country as rich in variety of plumages as Nigeria in the context of the varied antecedents of its constituent ethnic groups, the ultimate dividend from the legislature is to blend them in the spirit of unity in diversity. We need to do this march for many reasons. First, it will help hungry Nigerians who do not have employment. We all know that when you are busy you can sometimes even forget that you are hungry. Also, the colours of the million will make those who are mourning --- from having relatives who have been kidnapped, relatives who have been shot dead by robbers, relatives who have been slaughtered in herderfarmer clashes --- forget their sorrows and celebrate your right to rule Nigeria until it becomes almost physically impossible. We also need a march for health reasons. I mean we may not all lose weight, but it will help with blood flow. A walking man cannot be an angry man. It is my hope that there will be singing and dancing at this march. I can’t wait. I am already thinking of which comfortable footwear to use for this amazing occasion.

Pps. My weekly reminder: Please think of the Shiite man who is still in prison, whose children and followers we massacred and buried in Kaduna. Do not let him die in your custody. It is never too late to do the right thing. Especially now as we enter 2018. Release him, his wife and his people. Especially as we flag off this 2019 campaign season. We can even use it to score political points. I know you want to. Hugs.

Yours until 2023 and forever