The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has tasked legislative aides on professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
Kalu made the call on Monday at a retreat titled: “Synergy and Success,” organised for Senior Legislative Aides in the Office of the Deputy Speaker in Abuja.
He said that within the walls of the legislature, officers were not only expected to understand and interpret complex policy matters but also communicate them effectively to constituents.
He said there is need to continuously improve skills, broaden horizons and equip aides with the necessary tools to meet the challenges of their duties.
According to him, they have been entrusted with the power to influence and shape the legislative landscape of our country.
“This requires us to not only understand the intricacies of lawmaking but also to perform our oversight function with utmost integrity. This responsibility extends to using our office to impact positively on the nation.
“As aides, you must continue to uphold our standards in administering the office. Efficiency, professionalism, and ethical considerations should guide our interactions and decision-making process.
“You are not only custodians of my office but also ambassadors of our nation’s democratic values,” he said.
In his remarks, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, the Director-General of National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), sought improved partnership with lawmakers on legislative training.
He said the institute has a statutory responsibility for training of legislators, legislative aides and assistants and other key democratic actors such as political parties, security agents, and election observers, among others.
He said that in the ninth assembly, the institute successfully trained about 3000 legislative aides under different schemes and platforms.
He assured that the institute remained committed to the effective discharge of this mandate under the 10th assembly.
“Let me implore our parliamentarians, especially the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, as well as the bureaucracy of assembly to synergise more with the institute in continuing to fulfil its mandates for training and capacity building.
“The gradual emergence of a seemingly parallel capacity building platform not only competing with but also attempting to undermine NILDS over its statutory mandate, can only be counterproductive in the long run.
“Unfortunately, this tendency seems to be brewing up within the leadership of the house of representatives; such a development negates the idea of synergy and should be discouraged in its totality,” he said.
The Chief of Staff to the deputy speaker, Mr. Toby Okechukwu said the retreat was about forging that “powerful togetherness” that would propel the deputy speaker’s office and the institution of the national assembly to greater heights.
He said that as aides to the deputy speaker, they are entrusted with a profound responsibility to support, enhance, and amplify the efficacy of the office.
“Our success is evaluated not only by individual accomplishments but also by our ability to work together, communicate effectively, and coordinate our efforts toward a common objective.
“Synergy, in its purest form, is the power of unity, the convergence of diverse talents, abilities, perspectives, and skills to generate superior outcomes.
“It is the knowledge that we are stronger together, and that our collective potential is limitless when we work together toward a common goal,” he said. (NAN)
