Welcome to NTA live
from the national assembly …
honorable Patrick Obahiagon …
also known as igodo migodo.
You are welcome, sir.
O: The pleasure is mine, Bosede
B: so, how are u today?
0: Very good. In a proper order.
Very ready. Always ready for
parliamentary work.
B: I know you were at the Edo
state house of assembly. So how
has your experience in the state
assembly prepared you for the
challenges of the national
assembly?
O: Fantastic. Don’t forget I did 8
years at the Edo state house of
assembly and by the grace of the
don apticate of the universe, that
opportunity has assisted me
colossally in dotting the
parliamentary “I s” and crossing
the legislative “T s” and has put
me in good speed for the due
discharge of my parliamentary
onnus probandi ……, because
when you examine the
relationship between parliament
at the state level and parliament
at the national assembly, the
difference, if any, is one of a
twoodledum and twidlydim, little
or no difference.
The only difference of course
being that, whereas in the state
house of assembly you only
impact on a micro pedestal plane,
at the national assembly, you are
talking at a macro level. So if you
ask me, there is a dialogical
rapport between parliament at
the state level and parliament at
the national level. It is one of a
micro cossum in a macro
cossum.
So in a nutshell, I want to say that
my experience in serving as a
legislator for 8 years, and my
experience when I was leader of
the Edo state house of assembly
for 4 years, put me certainly in
good speed for this assignment
at the national level.
B: Is that why you have been a
vibrant member of this national
assembly as it were?
O: Partly yes. Partly yes. It is terra
ferma for me and not terra
incognita. It is familiar to me and
once you were ceased of the
muances of parliamentary
discourse and discobolus it
follows therefore that it will be
familiar to you too, partly …but
again, partly it is equally
responsible …, for the fact that
you cannot succeed as a
parliamentarian if you are not
cosmopolitan. You must be
prepared to immerse yourself in
societal dialectics for you to be
able to contribute efficaciously in
a utilitarian modus.
So, if you are a parliamentarian
and you don ’t go through the
ritual of even reading
newspapers, you don’t bathe
yourself in the aqua of the
political cross currents, then you
are going to be deuced, you are
going to be paralytic in your
contributions. So yes, my
experience in the state of
assembly has been responsible
for my vibrancy in one breathe.
At another breathe, my desire to
perpetually entrench myself in
political, social and intellectual
currents have equally contributed
in its own stead.
B: So in essence, what challenge
are you giving to your other
colleagues?
O: Sactas Simplicitas. They must
avoid regular big stouting ,
suyaing , big stouting and
peppersouping. Those are not
the real issues. They must be
prepared to immerse themselves
in societal dialectics. They must
put their nose to the grind stone.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo the
ikene philosopher said the
difference between me and my
other colleagues, was that when
my other colleagues are
cavorting in the dark alleys, I am
in my library working myself 19
to the dozen.
You cannot succeed in life if you
are not disciplined. You must be
puritanical in your
predisposition, you must engage
in an exercise of self purification
and mortification, you must
engage in an exercise of self
abnegation, you must engage in
an exercise of spiritual
emulation. You must discipline
the flesh. You must conquer the
flesh. You must allow the spiritual
aspect of you preponderate the
material aspect, especially when
you have been chosen to
represent the people. So that at
the end of the day, you can really
say: vendi, vidi, vicki
B: what is the meaning of that?
O: I came, I saw, I conquered.
B: Sir,just like I told you that you
are vibrant contributor to
debates on the floor of the house
at times does it really bother you
whether the people get to
understand what you say
because of those big big
grammar.
O: Well, let me say that I have
been maniatally bewildered, in
the words of Peter Pan,
“ overghasted and
flabberwhelmed” when I am
confronted by people as to what
they stigmatize as my
verbabodical dimosophy
gyrations .But let me use this
opportunity to say that I have
never set out …, I don’t
deliberately set out to confuse
my audience. Certain you want
me to be dumb, when I talk, they
just come, misuse less packadoo .
I bet you don ’t give what you
don’t have, what I have, I give.
B: So what is your parting word
to Nigerians?
O: My parting word to Nigerians
is to be patient with the
president of the country
President, Umaru Musa Y ’aradua.
I appreciate that a lot of people
at this time are becoming very
critical in assessing the president
because they believe that 8
months is enough to chart a
visionary trajectory. I share those
sentiments, but at the same time,
let us not forget that the country
was in a state of economical
quagmaya, political
fantasmagorie and social stupor
at the time the president came
on board. So I appeal to
Nigerians to be a little bit patient
with him.
But at the same time, I want to
appeal to Mr. President to see the
victory in the cause as a wake up
challenge, for him to leave the
position of recupensy into one of
recusansy. 8 months, people
should be able to say “this is the
direction of Mr. President”. 8
months, people should be able to
say “Mr. President’s stance for
this”. There is a difference
between amiability; there is a
difference between decency and
activism. The president must
leave his position of political, and
social and administrative lethargy
and take the driver ’s seat.
As Mr. President, he drives, and
others follow. So whereas I
appeal to Nigerians to be patient
with him, I equally call on Mr.
President to ascend the
challenges of governance, and he
cannot do that except he take
the driver ’s seat as the political
do edger, the political emir of
trans Jordan, and the political
major dobo, the buck ……