By CHARLES IWUOHA

Action Alliance (AA) Ebonyi State House of Assembly candidate for Afikpo North/West State Constituency, in the 2023 election, Mr. John-Prince Osmek, has said that the country is yet ripe for part-time legislature contrary to the call for it in some quarters.

He rather canvassed for competent legislators, who knew what leadership and representation entail, adding that it would be counter-productive to clamour for such legislative system in Nigeria.

In an interaction with newsmen on Friday, the State House of Assembly hopeful, explained that going by part-time legislature, lawmakers would put more vigour for the task ahead.

He said: “It depends on the reason why people are clamouring for a part-time legislature. But as far as I'm concerned, anything that's part-time will have part-time result. I was thinking people should be clamouring for competent legislators – I mean representatives, who have the interest of the people at heart, people who understand the place of leadership in society, people who are willing to lay down their lives and give dividends of democracy to the people.

“Legislation process talks about lawmaking for the people; and the legislator is someone collectively chosen by his people to represent them in a chamber, where laws are made in favour of the people in the land.

“When you say part-time it means people will definitely engage themselves in their various fields of endeavours and come back once or twice a week to make laws for the people. When people are not committed to a process that will take care of or govern how people live, whatever input they make will be in a haste. And remember rashness in any undertaking is disastrous.

“This is the reason: when a legislator is not given enough time to rest, articulate and ponder on issues that bother on his people, he won't make legislation that will stand the test of time.

“I do not believe in part-time legislation, because it won't help our people. Now, can you equate the efficacy and effectiveness of a part-time pastor with that of full-time pastor? No. They can't be the same, and this is the same thing with part-time and full-time legislation.”

On the alleged sorry state of Ebonyi state University, he called on governor David Umahi to urgently restore past glory of the institution.

It was gathered that EBSU is currently faced existential threat as lecturers presently leave the institutions for others around and overseas, in droves, in search for better working conditions.

He added: “The question on EBSU is interesting, because I believe that before now I knew the Law Department of the institution was the best across the entire country. If that was the case before and something, near imperfect is happening now, I suggest we should check where we got it all wrong.

“This is because everything rises and falls on leadership. It could as a result of administrative reasons that’s deviling the institution currently, that have caused its erstwhile glory to go down. It could also be that staff welfare is no longer encouraging. You know at times, when you don’t take adequate care of those who run your business for you, they will no longer manage it well for you. This automatically kills the ownership mindset and poise within your workers.

“It’s my earnest belief that the welfare of the lecturers there are longer taken care of. I am aware that the institution used to do well academically and so, the administration of the school should be checked. The leadership should be checked. And staff welfare ought to improve because there must be something that has gone wrong that makes it difficult for the school to rise above its current alleged poor state.”