Etsako echoes for more of Hon Abubakar Momoh years after office

By DADA AYOKHAI 

Across Edo North and other senatorial districts in the country,   June is the season of accountability when lawmakers give an account of their stewardship to those they  represent in the various law making assemblies. 

With so much intensity and bravado, the lawmakers set up various town hall meetings where they regale the people with astonishing tales of their stewardship. 

They reel out a long list of their accomplishments and conclude the grand outing with the distribution of empowerment items.

On the other hand, the people try to discern whether or not their interests have been truly served.

Amidst the fanfare that comes with this showpiece to impress the constituents, there is also a side bar which rekindles feelings of nostalgia among the people.

Whilst the lawmakers gallivant all over Edo North district unveiling projects and dishing out palliatives,   the Edo North people, like Oliver Twist, in asking for more are also quick to draw comparison between what they are seeing now and the legislative benchmark sets by Hon Abubakar Momoh.

Almost five years since he left office, the people have not forgotten the tremendous impact Hon Momoh made on their lives as a lawmaker who represented Etsako federal constituency in the green chamber for two terms, though at different intervals. 

Many people across the three council areas which make up the constituency still refer to the period when Hon Momoh served as the "golden era". 

They easily point at his regular robust engagements with the people and how it affords him the opportunity to gauge and feel the pulse of the people.

They also make a sing-song of how hard he pushed before both the federal and state government took on the task of taming the menace of myriad of problems in Etsako federal constituency. 

Similarly, they recollect, though with so much nostalgia, how the trained engineer turned politician, sponsored several bills, some of which were later enacted into laws as well as his robust and insightful contributions to motions and debates on the floor of the House. 

Of more importance, however, was his exposé on the surreptitious hike of fuel price by the then Obasanjo administration. The debate which followed the revelation  sparked national rage and later forced the government to not only reduce the price of the commodity but also came out with various policies to cushion its effect on the citizens.

From South Ibie to Ekperi to Auchi and even beyond, Hon Momoh touched several communities either by way of link roads, repair of broken bridges, provision of portable water, construction of  pedestrian bridges, building of quality classroom blocks, donation of school furniture, award of bursaries and scholarships, micro finance schemes to widows, etc. 

In particular, students of the Auchi  Polytechnic, Auchi, will be eternally grateful to him for two reasons. First, he facilitated the pedestrian bridge  across the busy Auchi - Benin road and helped to stave off the carnage and deaths recorded on daily basis on that road. Secondly, he also facilitated the construction of office block of classroom  at the  Chemical Engineering department in the school.

 Hon Momoh, while at the House , he was able to excel in both  legislative duties and effectively lobbying to attract the dividends of democracy to the people.

 And, this is simply because he was well grilled in the grassroots, having started his political sojourn from the very  base as a councillor, then council chairman and, finally, as a lawmaker. Along the line, Hon Momoh knows where the shoe pinches and, therefore, was able to deploy his lobbying skills appropriately even as he served as a "robust mouthpiece" of his people.