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Awujoola yusuf babatunde
Mar 30 2025
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ABUGA— The Senate President, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central, said that the action of the National Assembly to pass President Bola Tinubu's state of emergency declaration in Rivers State saved the state from collapsing into anarchy. He further said that they should be praised for doing so and not condemned.
Bamidele, during his address, added that since they were a responsible national assembly, the emergency was "an extraordinary measure" to be seen for peace's sake, rather than by virtue of a narrow agenda.
Bamidele made this assertion yesterday at the 29th convocation of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. He did so while he was being awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa).
Bamidele was conferred the honorary doctorate yesterday together with Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and Dr. Mansur Muhtar, Chairman, Governing Board, Bank of Industry. This is the third honorary doctorate that he has been awarded since January 2003, and the last one was in March 2025.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Vice President of the Senate, Senator Jubril Barau; the Deputy Leader, Senator Lola Ashiru; Deputy Whip, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi; and Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the Senate, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, were present.
Bamidele testified of the patriotism of the National Assembly's actions and recounted how emergency rule was announced in Rivers State and endorsed by the National Assembly as diminishing immensely political tension within the state.
He said, "But for this good choice that kept Rivers State from further slipping into anarchy, the Senate Leader declared, "it has been the victim of all sorts of poisonous opposition that do not present us well before the world."
"What do we as a people really desire?" A working federation for all of us? Or a federation that gets mired in a problem that cannot be solved? For the sake of peace and security, we must understand that emergency rule is once in a while and needs to be handled with kid gloves.
"Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states that the National Assembly must make its information available." You cannot simply read portions of the 1999 Constitution at random if you do not know how the Nigeria Interpretation Act 2004 works.
"As a responsible and responsive parliament that believes in peace and stability as a source of growth and development, we were sworn in to promote a country that works for everyone and guarantees peaceful coexistence for everybody. This ambition seals our resolve to sanction the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State with wide-ranging provisions.
One of such provisions is the setting up of the National Peace Committee to midwife the peace process between the Legislature and Executive in the state. We should be commended for this noble initiative and not vilified by some political players who do not care about our national security but are driven by their selfish interests. Despite their unpatriotic behavior, we are in strong favor of Nigeria's peace and stability. We will continue to utilize the authority of the National Assembly to guarantee Nigeria's peaceful coexistence.
Our action, as an institution, is taken purely in the national interest. If any interest is not content with it, they can seek redress in the law court," Bamidele reflected. He was greatly disturbed by a wave of attacks that the opposition parties are viciously launching on the National Assembly, stating that the reasons for the attacks "are purely emotional and not reasons; sentiment and not substance."
"In spite of the baseless and unwarranted attacks our critics are launching at the National Assembly, we remain encouraged because we are sincerely on a rescue mission." The mission spirit attempts to lead our fatherland from the abyss of regression towards the path of progression by passing pro-people laws and by establishing strategic collaboration with other organs of government. Collaboration here does not mean the erosion of the independence of the National Assembly under any circumstance. Rather, in practical life, it reinforces the spirit of interdependence, which constitutional democracy assumes to resolve hydra-headed issues that tend to bog down the machinery of responsible government," he explained.
Bamidele thus revealed that the National Assembly is now more than ever resolved to build a federation that has internal stability and is well-grounded in the rules of law through the agency of legislation, oversight, and representation. We are also resolved to create a system that will make quality education easier, provide unlimited placements for all our graduates, prioritize access to decent houses throughout the country, dramatically reverse our nation's records of untold hardships, and remove all barriers to gender inequality.
"These ambitious goals can only be achieved through strategic cooperation among all arms of government. We remain committed to this collaborative approach as we work towards building a stronger, more prosperous Nigeria."
This does not mean that we are afraid of criticism as the foremost democratic institution. We are not, and we will never be, because we believe that democracy thrives naturally on public criticism. But such criticisms should be constructive and well-coordinated with the objective of advancing alternative, credible, and patriotic initiatives," Bamidele noted. Moreover, during the convocation, Prof. Akin Oyebode, the Pro-Chancellor of the institution, appreciated the contributions of the alumni of the institution towards its development, explaining that alumni are significant in providing support to their alma mater in the majority of institutions worldwide.
He specifically outlined how the alumni association facilitated the donation of two medical hostels (male and female) by Senator Bamidele. He also said that the alumni association, courtesy of Senator Bamidele, made possible the building of two other medical hostels, a mini stadium for the university, and two kilometers of road construction linking the alumni village with the college of medicine, in addition to the 500-capacity CBE Centre and FM Radio Station.
In his own address, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Joseph Ayodele, said he was elated at the recent ranking of the institution as Nigeria's best state university by the Times Higher Education. Ayodele also linked the success of the institution to the enhancement of the monthly subvention of the university from N260 million to N410 million monthly. He thanked the alumni association for the rapid development of the institution through strategic collaboration with the leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
