A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has tasked former legislators to speak out against any wrong-doing, irrespective of their political or regional affiliations, to preserve Nigeria’s democracy.

Dogara stated this on Thursday in Abuja while addressing former members of the house at the 2024 House of Representatives Reunion Conference.

He said that having served the country at the level of the National Assembly, they had joined the elite class and should, therefore, not keep quiet in the face of any wrong doing in the country.

The former speaker said that Nigeria must first exist before there could be political offices either in the executive, legislature or judiciary to aspire to.

“It is said that what builds a nation is elite consensus, and what destroys a nation is elite complacency.

“Once you see a nation declining, it means that the elites are complacent, and the only way we can arrest this bad trajectory is for us to come here occasionally and meet with ourselves, as they say, iron sharpens iron and we speak with one voice.

“Unfortunately, whether you like it or not, the political system is organised in such a way that it is all about what you demand, and sometimes, they may not even listen to you when you speak out.

“The truth remains that, whether they listen to you or not, it is not an excuse to keep quiet; we should always speak out. For those of us who want to be role models, to be a role model entails two things.

“You must act worthy of your calling, and then you have to speak against wrong doings. But once you miss out on either of the two, you cannot be a role model.

“As statesmen, as elites, as leaders in this land, if we see something going wrong, we should do something, we should say something and let us offer everything within the ambit of our powers to see that those things are corrected,” he said.

According to him, nation building is not a mean tax, adding that since independence, attempt at nation building has been abysmal.

The 8th Assembly speaker said that as former lawmakers, it was high time they came together to continue to contribute their quota to nation building.

In her remarks, Ms Mulikat Adeola, the Majority Leader of the 5th Assembly and convener of the reunion, said that the aim was to have a forum of former members of the house of representatives.

She said as former reps, they were a group of people who had been in all the constituencies in the country and were in touch with the people.

According to the former majority leader, there are very knowledgeable people among them who should not be left behind.

“I expect that we should be the ones holding government to account. Anytime a government is in power, we can speak to policies, we can speak to government actions; whatever it is they are doing, we can demand explanation or accountability.

“That will put government on its toes, even though some of us might also be in government at the particular time.

“They know that we represented people in the country, and we are still representing them because even some of those who are there now will become former, maybe by next election,” she said.

A former Deputy Speaker of the house, Mr Emeka Ihedioha, said that over the years, Nigeria had produced legislators who were now serving as resource base for the country and who should not be wished away but fully tapped.

Ihedioha said that the idea was about deepening the growth of democracy and putting heads together on how to make Nigeria work.

Also speaking, Mrs Aishatu Dukku, a former Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, tasked the 10th Assembly on the five gender bills.

She said that though the former assembly did not succeed in passing the bills, the 10th Assembly should push it, even as he pledged the support of former members.

“That will be a step forward to bring women to participate in the democracy, if it is really a democracy, because it is not a democracy if half of the population are left behind,” she said. (NAN)