Says Dogara

been given the liberty and resources, but we mismanaged it, and then we will carry the shame for the rest of our lives. It is better, than to leave this on the level that one day, it may just be thrown to the dogs.

Getting the bill signed by the president We lobbied members from other zones and fought to get through this process of lawmaking. And at the end of the day, the law was prepared and sent to the executive; obviously they had issues with it. And realizing that time was going and if the President doesn’t sign within 30 days, it means that he has vetoed the legislation. The only other option is to bring it back to the National Assembly and override the veto. But the question was whether we could muster the two-third votes that we need in order to override the veto should that be the case? And we thought it wasn’t wise. So at a point I had to ask that a letter be written to the executive to withdraw the bill so that we can address those concerns that they have. So they brought it, some lawyers were brought from the executive side, I gathered a team of lawyers as well, and I chaired the meeting. We were on this matter for three weeks with a notable son of Borno who is no more in the House, with us. But I knew him with accounting during our work as lawyers in Abuja. I had to draft him in too to give a helping hand. At the end of the day, we cleaned up all the misunderstandings, addressed all the issues the executive had, and we sent it back to them. And if that Bill had not been signed on October 25, 2017, I think officially the thirty days would have been elapsing by now. So we should thank God for His intervention, even as we thank the president, and I want us also not to forget the role of the First Lady, her members were here with us. When we had a public hearing on the bill, she personally led wives of governors to come and witness that public hearing. And happily, so many high-ranking stakeholders of the Northeast were there. From all across the states, former governors, former ministers, I’ve never seen this kind of solidarity before. In fact, it was on account of that I now know that this issue of unity in the Northeast is something that is achievable because I saw it. I even noticed that a delegation was sent under the leadership of the Governor of Borno to the National Assembly to thank both the Senate President, the leadership of the National Assembly, not me because I’m the promoter; I should be the one thanking them. And through all that I saw a lot of emirs from the zone and two governors, from Yobe and Bauchi. So you know that if we can continue to pursue things in the zeal of this unity that I saw, there’s nothing that we cannot achieve. Sincerely, there’s nothing that we cannot achieve, if this unity is possible, then the only reason why we are not seen to be united is because nobody is working on that. With the right leadership, we can be able to unite, and with that unity we can push through so many regional objectives, and they will come to fruition. So that is one thing that is left for us to do. Like I said before, we shouldn’t just celebrate the coming into being of this commission. Obviously we should, because it’s going to increase the level of opportunities available to our people, whether in terms of employment, in terms of mobilsation of resources, in terms of redeveloping the infrastructure that were destroyed, we’re going to be bet- ter off for it.

Can the NEDC end the woes of the region? Those challenges are still with us, the challenges for providing job opportunities for our teeming young people, the challenges of redeveloping the region to ensure that for everyone who grows up in that region, there’s perhaps something that he can find to do. And when we expand this window of opportunity to so many of our sons and daughters, we’ll be able to end this issue of violence. Because I heard some of the recruits of Boko Haram were offered so much that the security agencies discovered in their bank accounts. So it was like money was even the lifeblood that was funding this terrorism. If we offer a situation where the society offers what outweighs what they get from terrorism, nobody would be a terrorist, as nobody wants to die. But it’s only when you face a kind of life, or a kind of situation where to even die is better than to be alive, then you’d have no choice, then you’ll be available to do anything at that stage. But anyone who is firmly rooted in the land of prosperity would hardly think of visiting violence on anyone.

On need for other intervention bodies As far as I am concerned, if it was the responsibility of the House of Representatives, we can do it tomorrow. But unfortunately, we need all the arms of government to make it happen. This, I believe, will provide a platform to further that discussion. But the important thing is that it has been done for Syria. So, I do not see why the international community will not respond to this crisis that we are faced with in Nigeria. The world is a global village. The problems in Nigeria, if they are not well taken care of, will have an international dimension sooner than later. Those countries in Europe that felt they were detached from the crisis in Syria were overrun by the massive influx of emigrants. For us to deal with this, there must be an international response so that we will be able to nip it in the bud in Nigeria.