The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC,
has said that the lawmakers who jeered President Muhammadu Buhari during the
2019 budget proposal presentation at the joint session of the National Assembly
on Wednesday were “political imbeciles”.
The budget proposal presentation
witnessed a rowdy session of as some members of the Senate and the House of
Representatives booed President Buhari while some others cheered him.
MURIC’s view was contained in a
statement signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Friday.
MURIC said the attitude of the
lawmakers was infantile, pedestrian and ludicrous.
The statement added, “Our
lawmakers manifested articulated immaturity and exhibited pronounced
desertification of parliamentary decorum. They desecrated the hallowed chamber.
It was such a shame of a National Assembly (NASS).
“They descended to the lowest
abyss of disgraceful conduct. It is now very clear that the 8th NASS is
suffering from acute poverty of patriotism, a yawning lacunae for dignity and
an irredeemable deficiency in righteousness.
“To boo and jeer during the
presentation of an annual budget shows that our legislators are not interested
in how Nigeria makes progress. This was an occasion when lawmakers are expected
to show seriousness as the fate of the nation and its people for the next year
was being reeled out.
“In saner climes, the elected
representatives of the people manifest concern as the budget of their country
is read. They eschew politicking and listen with rapt attention. But not
Nigerian lawmakers of the 8th NASS.
“These are the same lawmakers who
delayed 2018 budget for seven months and refused to have anything to do with it
until they had sliced off the juicest portions unto themselves.
“MURIC is not depriving the
lawmakers of their right to disagree with the executive. But no lawmaker worth
the salt anywhere in the world will carry political disagreement to issues
pertaining to the welfare of the citizens.
“The budget of a country reflects
the fate of the people and their welfare at least for that year and sometimes
impacts on their future. For choosing to make caricatures of themselves on that
august occasion, our lawmakers have proved that they are not worth the trust
reposed in them.
“MURIC is not tongue-lashing the
lawmakers for booing. We are chastising them for booing without knowing when to
stop. Donald Trump was booed during the State of the Union address on 17th
January, 2018 but it was done in a very civilized manner. Democrats who booed
him kept quiet after a while and listened attentively because they knew it was
about America, not about Trump. They booed Trump for being inhuman by trying to
halt chain immigration of poor people from the Third World. That was
issue-based.
“Our own lawmakers booed the
president non-stop to the extent that Speaker Dogara who was expected to
deliver the closing remarks could not do so. They booed without borders. They
threw caution to the winds.They booed President Buhari for identifying with the
poor masses of Nigeria, for refusing to steal and for exposing their voracious
gluttony. It is laughable, detestable, repulsive and condescending, It is,
indeed, a tale of two cities.
“Lawmaking is a leadership
position but our lawmakers failed to display the necessary qualities of
leadership. They disappointed Nigerians. All those who partook in the booing
and jeering need to be taken back to school where they will learn the art of
discipline and the qualities of leadership. They are square pegs in a round
hole. It is such a shame that our lawmakers decided to vent their spleen in
such a disgraceful manner on their president simply because the man refused to
join in the rapacious avarice to loot the nation dry. They failed to realize
that the line of demarcation between lawmaking and law-breaking is very thin
and fragile and they crossed that line in their exhibition of legislative
rascality.
“Whereas Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) said, “The leader of the people is their servant”, our lawmakers
see themselves differently. They are feudal lords. They belong to the
capitalist and bourgeois political class to whom the people’s welfare means
very little. They lack a civilized political culture and their political
ideology springs from a ‘bolekaja’ mentality where bitterness, acrimony,
derision and violence take the driving seat. This much was displayed by them
during the presentation of 2019 budget.
“MURIC salutes President
Muhammadu Buhari for remaining calm and composed throughout the day. Mr.
President stood ramrod as they booed and jeered. His comportment unsettled his
adversaries. He made the nation proud by refusing to loose his temper. But the
icing on the cake was his fatherly admonition to the rascally lawmakers as he
scolded them, ‘Let us conduct ourselves properly. The world is watching us. We
are supposed to be above this’. That was Mr. Integrity incarnate speaking, the
pride of our great nation.
“Those golden words will remain
on the marble as long as Nigeria continues to exist. They are monumental,
philosophical and didactic. Generations to come will read them and they will
ponder, ‘What a great leader that was’. But what will they think about the
rowdy lawmakers? ‘Verily, verily, we say unto the 8thNASS, you were a huge
disappointment!’
“The fault goes to the electorate
anyway. Nigerians are adept at electing incompetent politicians. Our level of
enlightenment is near zero. But the worst problem we have is our pathological
docility. Venezuela parliamentarians learnt to comport themselves the hard way.
They were proving too difficult for the president. The citizens invaded
parliament and threw them out. Nigerians leave everything in the hands of God
whereas the Qur’an says, ‘God will not change the condition of a people until
they decide to change it themselves’ (Glorious Qur’an 13:11).
“As a parting shot, we remind
those hostile lawmakers that their disgraceful conduct on that day has added
luster to Buhari’s glamour. He is already a hero of our nation but they made
him a greater hero. Whether he clinches a second term or not, Nigerians, nay,
the world at large, have written his name in letters of gold.”
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