The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has commended his aides for making his job as a presiding officer and alternate chairman of the 9th National Assembly better.
Gbajabiamila said he could not help but commend his aides for having worked hard behind the scenes in the last four years to enable him to accomplish far-reaching interventions, reforms, and landmark bills that are impacting positively on the Nigerian people and that his tenure would be remembered for.
According to the Speaker, the 9th House has been the arena of substantive initiatives that have improved vast areas of the nation’s economy, from energy to finance, information technology to insurance, youth empowerment to women’s rights, and so much more.
Gbajabiamila spoke on Wednesday 31 May 2023 at the National Assembly during a valedictory session for his aides organised by his office, where he expressed his gratitude to his aides for contributing their quota to nation-building during his tenure as the Speaker.
He said: “You also rarely get credit for the quietly efficient work done behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly through various challenges and limitations.
“While we will long remember the things we accomplished together, I want you to remember that by our joint efforts, we helped our beloved country avert disaster more than once, and we kept the machinery of the legislature running to the benefit of the Nigerian people.
“While we were here, we didn’t just mark time; we made a difference. You made me a better Speaker of the House of Representatives. I thank you most sincerely for it.
“I want you to be as proud of these efforts as you are of the many programmes and projects we initiated and executed with flair.”
Wishing his aides well in their next endeavours, he stated, “Though our days in this office are nearly over, I hope our public service will continue for as long as we have the strength and the ability to improve our communities and make the life of man on this earth better.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Chief of Staff to the Speaker, Olanrewaju Smart appreciated the speaker for providing the platform and creating the enabling environment for the aides to contribute to the speaker’s tenure mantra of ‘Nation-Building: A Joint Task.’
He also acknowledged the contributions of his colleagues to the many successes recorded by Gbajabiamila, saying, “By all estimates, the 9th House of Representatives has been one of the most productive legislatures in the history of our democracy.
“This office and the people in it have been instrumental in all these accomplishments. That is a legacy we can all be proud of.”
While presenting the speaker with a handover document, a novel initiative and the first of its kind that highlights the function, architecture, and relationships of the Speaker’s Office, he said, “In our final act of public service, we have worked together to produce a handover note that presents the reality of the last four years, articulates our achievements and challenges, and sets out recommendations for the future.
“It may surprise some of you that this is the first time such a document has been produced in the House of Representatives, or the National Assembly, for that matter.”
The event was rounded off with the speaker presenting letters of commendation and plaques as a gesture of his appreciation to his aides.
▪︎ By Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
