The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, lauded the efforts of the armed forces in restoring security to parts of Nigeria, saying that the spate of insecurity across states is gradually being reversed.
Lawan stated this when he received a delegation from Adamawa state who paid him a visit in appreciation to the National Assembly for converting the Modibbo Adama University, Yola, into a conventional university that can run medical programmes alongside social and management sciences.
The delegation was led by Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed and the Vice Chancellor of the University, Abdullahi Lima Tukur.
Lawan, in his welcome speech said, the conversion of the university was the outcome of a collaborative effort between the Legislature and the Executive arms of government.
According to the Senate President, the Ninth National Assembly would be judged fairly by Nigerians for its pro-people legislations in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic which slowed the country’s pace of development.
“I will take this opportunity to commend Mr. President for assenting to that bill. This is what we call cooperative governance. We work with the Executive to ensure that the Nigerian people benefit from democracy.
“We have set our eyes on our target of making Nigeria better and making Nigerians safer. What matters to us is what we are able to achieve at the end of the day.
“History will judge us very fairly, and without sounding immodest, I’ll like to take this opportunity to congratulate the ninth National Assembly.
“The Ninth National Assembly has achieved so much between 2019 till date for the benefit of this country despite the pandemic, and the secret is unity and harmony.
“We have achieved unity amongst ourselves in the National Assembly environment between the Senate and the House; and of course, we have achieved harmony in work between the National Assembly and the Executive, and that’s the essence of governance, anyway.
“When we disagree, we will do so, but if we have no reason to disagree, we will not do that because we want to please anybody,” he said.
Speaking on the security and economic challenges faced by Nigeria, the Senate President said recent developments showed an improvement in efforts made by the armed forces towards addressing the spate of insecurity in parts of the country.
“Those of us in position of leadership today are probably more challenged than any set of leaders. We need to pray, but we also need to act, work hard and apply ourselves fully and work committedly to ensure that we serve Nigerians.
“Nothing is impossible. This situation of insecurity gradually is being reversed. I am particularly happy with recent developments by our armed forces. They are doing better than they were doing before.
“I’m sure that the economy will also start to improve, and we will get out of recession that we entered last month.
“With the implementation of the capital budget 2020 up till the end of March, and of course, the start of the implementation of the 2021 budget, the economy will receive a boost,” the Senate President added.