Chief Billy Osawaru, a member representing Orhionmwon/Uhumwode Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives weekend called on Nigerians not to be afraid of the 10th National Assembly as being rumored in some quarters to be a rubber stamp to the Executive arm of government.

The Benin High Chief said the National Assembly is going to be different pointing that, "the first thing you want to know is, this is the most colorful assembly we have ever seen. Eight different political parties and we have find a way to work together peacefully for the unity of the country. It is not as if we don't have our differences from time to time, we do even with the leadership. But we just found out different ways of managing the situation."

 

The All-Progressives Congress lawmaker said they had issues which we had to be resolve ourselves, but saying, "does that make the assembly a rubber stamp?  I don't think so, you will see a lot of things because, these Assembly is made up of a lot of matured politicians that understand how to get results. We have hit the ground running just like the president. 

 

On the national chairman of APC comment, he said, "I am not sure in which context he said that he was not consulted because, this is the House of Representatives and what we are doing is not a secret. The positions were zoned out and names were mentioned, it was put on the table and that was how the speaker and Deputy Speaker emerged. 

 

"Coming to the presiding officers that made up the leadership, we followed the same formula, it was zoning. You can see the leader of the House was zoned to South - South and that was how they all emerged. 

 

"The minority leader for the opposition parties produced another south South leader and we all endorsed. We attended meetings and endorsed the leadership. So may be people might just be taking what the Chairman said out of contest. All is well in APC. 

 

On the removal of fuel subsidy and suffering in the country, Chief Billy Osawaru said, *"Yes, we have been drawing the attention of the executive, if you have been following some of the motions in the House recently, you will find out that, some of those issues have been coming up. Even yesterday there was a motion on the floor that talked about the need for us to reduce the sufferings of Nigerians, due to subsidy removal. We are just starting, and a lot of these motions will come up, it is a process, it is not something you can do in a day. We are already moving in the right direction when it comes to good representation. 

 

The lawmaker further revealed his interest in tackling insecurity, roads in his Constituency especially the Benin/Abraka that have been abandoned by both Edo state and federal government for do long.

 

"I have a motion coming up that will talk about the Benin Abraka road. The need to rehabilitate and dualize the road, because of the relevance of the road, Orhionmwon local government holds some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the country, looking at the number of communities in that axis, it is not something to joke with. In taking care of security, if we don't get the road fixed, dualize, then we are going to have a lot of kidnapping cases continue. That is why I am going to move the motion on Tuesday. This is something we are going to continue doing."

 

As a Palace Chief, he said, "The Oba of Benin's message is that I should go there and be a good Ambassador for the kingdom, represent your people, don't bring bad name to your people and as an adult I understand what those messages mean. That is why everything I do here I always take those things into consideration because being a Benin man, like today the way I introduced myself when I was seconding a motion, that I am a proud Benin Chief, that advice from His Royal Majesty I hold very dearly."

 

Still on subsidy removal and palliatives, he said, " is patience and tolerance, no pain, no gain, if we understand that no matter what we need to enjoy, let it be on the long term, than just on the long term, because whatever you are enjoying on the short term does not really make sense. 

 

"If you get 2k given to you as subsidy, just on a short term, then that suffering is still there, and we are still going to pay the price. But if we can just let the 2k go towards something else that would make our lives better on the long run. You are not just going to enjoy it, your children will enjoy it, your children's children will enjoy it. I am sure that is our goal, that patience and tolerance is what we are pleading for, because I understand the way it is, there is always going to be a shake up and not in a pleasant way. 

 

"Imagine someone that use to buy fuel for 180, today he is buying it for 537, it is not the same feeling, we know the hardship is there, but I can assure you that it is going to be for a short period. If we can go through this short period by being patient with the new administration, better days will be ahead for us all. 

 

"I know many at times you cannot blame Nigerians if they don't tolerate some of these things anymore, because in the past they have been taken advantage of, they have been taken for granted. We have to plead with our people to please be tolerant and give this new government the benefit of the doubt and I can assure you that everything will be fine."