By Philip Eke
Balaradei Daniel Igali has been in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly for the past four years representing Southern Ijaw Constituency 3 He defied stiff opposition and got re-elected on 18th April 2015 for a second term. His acquaintances believed that his good works gave him an edge over his co-contestants at the polls. In this interview with Philip Eke at the Assembly Quarters in Yenagoa, Hon. Igali shows appreciations to God, the State Government and his constituent. He also highlights some of his achievements and his new prospects. Excerpts:
How would you describe the road to your re-election into the Bayelsa State House of Assembly?
Well, I thank God for the victory we were able to have over our opponents. I also thank God for the peace that pervaded the atmosphere during the election. I thank the people of Southern Ijaw Constituency III of Bomo Clan who were quite aware of my activities at the House. They knew that they had appropriate, if not an exceptional representation for the past four years. They also know that my doors are always open almost 24 hours a day. They know that when they have problems and they come to me, and it is something that I can assist with, I do it timely and promptly. I believe that might be the fuel
that necessitated my return into the House for a second tenure.
But I am also aware that there were distension here and there. I therefore use this opportunity to appeal to all aggrieved parties, who unfortunately could not get elected this time, to sheathe their sword and let us work together since it is the intention of everyone who contested for Southern Ijaw Constituency III to gather the people together..
How would you describe the state House of Assembly that is winding up now?
I think the state House of Assembly is one coordinated and understanding group. We have a unique Speaker who has in his wisdom brought everybody together. I am looking forward to a house of about 14 new members who will also need to go through the phases to get the understanding of how the Assembly works. We also have more women than the last time where we had only one solitary woman. We will now have about four women, which will give the House more value than before. I am looking forward to a House that will be proactive than the last one. I know we passed a lot of bills, we had very robust debate in the House and I look for forward to a house that will supersede what we did for the past four years.
What was the relation between the House of Assembly and the Executive arm?
You know there is this mis-normal in the public view that the executive and the legislative should be at loggerheads. But I think there should be a good working relationship between the both. That does not mean the legislature should be a rubber stamp. That is not true, if the government fails, the legislature will also fail because it is part of the government, just as the judiciary is also part of
the government. These three arms must work together to ensure that government succeeds. Sometime you have to be flexible, you don’t have
to be like Okonkwo who was so rigid and difficult to bend. You have to give and take to achieve results.
So far so good, I think we have done a fabulous job for the past four years, with the passage of over 40 bills, the relationship worked very well.
What are our major achievements in the House? What are the people expecting from you this time?
I wouldn’t only pinpoint one thing as my major achievement I do know that we have a problem of lack of teachers in my constituency. I did an overview of all the schools in my constituency and came to the approximation of about 4.3 teachers and I came with a land mark motion that took us over three months to deliberate on the House. I saw that in the urban areas especially Yenagoa and its environs, they have about 90 teachers in one school while we have about 4.3 teachers in one school in the Rural areas.
So we are now at the point of ameliorating the plight of our people. We are acting on it right now and new teachers are being posted. What government needs to do as we have rightly pinpointed is to employ more teachers so that we can have more stability in the schools. So I think in my opinion that was a landmark motion. I think no one can call me a sitting legislator in the State Assembly. I contributed essentially to every motion background with the leadership of the House.
I cannot mention anybody among the 24 members of the House that I had loggerheads with. If I had a motion on the floor of the house, I have the confidence that definitely it will past. Looking forward to the second part of your question, we intend to improve on what we have done. You know as a new legislator, it will take you about two years to understand very well the workings of the house, no matter how bright you are. But I now know that I am firmly rooted and getting things done will be a lot easier, I still have numerous things to do for our people, ranging from walkways, and provisions of portable drinking water and so on.
Are you ready to work with those who contested with you, and who do you dedicate your election victory to?
Let me start from your last question, I always dedicate my victory to God, victory is of God, there is a song I always like to sing ‘God ins. It is only God that wins is anything you do. If your win an election, you should know it is God that won it, not by your power. However, obviously, God used a lot of persons to get that done, starting from the Governor, the PDP executive and the people of my constituency. I know a lot of persons in my place were interested in that position. There were clamours that the position be zoned to other clan because my clan had always produced the representative of the
House.I think we have to look beyond that and look at competence. I thank
God that at last people rallied round even those who were initially opposed to my re-election later joined hand to work for my victory.
Apart from that I had also done a lot of reaching out to people. In my view it is not about winning, there is a lot of work. I keep telling people, even while I was doing my masters abroad that it had to do with hard work. If you don’t devote times studying the rules of the House and the legislation that are coming in, if you don’t seat down and study motions and know good reasons why you should support a particular motion or a bill, you won’t be as articulate as you should be on the floor of the House. Now there is more work to do, for me, wining means that a lot has been put on your shoulders, and knowing the fractured nature of my constituency, this is the time to get everybody together to achieve our set goals.
As a National Sports Officer, don’t you think that your re-election
would hinder your input in that direction? How is your contribution to sports in Bayelsa?
I am the Chairman, House Committee on Sports in the Bayelsa state House of Assembly. I do not subscribe to the opinion that my activities in the house will inhibit my contribution to sports at the national level. That does not in any way short change what I can do at the national level. I understand that I am the president of the Nigeria Wrestling Association and I am also the Chairman, Nigeria Olympic Technical Committee. Yet my work as a legislator for the past four years has not curtailed what I can do or offer in that capacities. What we must realize is that I even spend 30% to 40% of my income to run those offices. I am not paid to become president of Wrestling Association. About four times I have travelled in respect of those offices, I have paid my tickets three times. I don’t even take allowances. So if you look at it critically, my being re-elected is to add to what I can do to promote national sports activities.
What is your advice on the use of card readers which is believed to
have disenfranchised a lot of persons during the 2015 elections
I think no Nigerian that is above the age of 18 should be disenfranchised for no fault of his or hers. Having said that, the major thing I see with the PVCs and the card reader is the gap between the time accreditation and voting. During the presidential and the rest elections, you could see that some people get accredited as early as 9:00am but they had to wait till 1:00pm and above to cast their votes and these are villagers who would want to cast their votes and
go to their farms. We need to find a way of getting accredited and voting right away. This will cut down the voter apathy that was experienced during the last election,. There is no rational behind the process that I should go and accredit myself and wait for hours before voting. On the other hand, in my own view the PVCs and the card reader have curtailed rigging to an extent we can do more to improve on it.
What is your advice to Bayelsans man of whom refused to come out and vote probably because their palm were not greased?
I think there need to be a lot of orientation of our people. We seem not to understand what it means to vote and the power of voting. That is one right you have to choose who you want and who you don’t want. To tell someone that he should give you one thousand naira to vote, it means you have sold your right and you don’t have any right to ask anything from that person whether he performs or not because he has already paid you off. It will interest you to note that my former security guard who hails from Kano State and now working with another man here in Yenagoa could afford to transport himself to far away Kano out of the seventeen thousand naira he receives per month to cast his vote. He spent over ten thousand naira he receives out of the seventeen thousand naira just to go home and vote and he is back now. We have not imbibed that culture in Bayelsa State. It is always this sense of being entitled to everything that has been our problem. “If you don’t pay me, I will not vote” As if we are doing something for somebody else. It’s about your
future. It’s about who you want to oversee the affairs of your constituency, state and country. We need to advice our people to know that the voti8ng power is the greatest power they ever have and they should not abuse it.
What do you intend to do as you return to the house?
I personally presented myself for my people to represent them in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. I will ensure that whatever is due for them will be given to them as it is done in other constituencies. That is what I will stand by. I can tell them to be rest assured that Baraladei Daniel Igali will give them 100% representation, that Baraladei Igali will live for the next four years 100% of his life his people. Whatever I can do for them, I will do for them. That is my
promise.
