Members of the House of Representatives have come under intense pressure from their constituents after their colleague from Borno State, Hon Zainab Gimba (Ph.D), recently distributed 118 vehicles, 200 tricycles, 800 sewing machines, 400 grinding machines, 492 water pumps, millions of naira to her people.
Hon. Zainab Gimba, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), representing Bama, Ngala, Kala-Balge Federal Constituency, flagged off her Constituency Empowerment Scheme in Maiduguri in the presence of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and other top government as well as party officials.
At the occasion, cheques of millions of naira were also presented to four different families that lost their loved ones during her electioneering campaigns.
The lawmaker, a former commissioner for poverty alleviation, enjoined the beneficiaries, most of whom were affected by the insurgency in the state, to judiciously use the items given to them to create more jobs and means of livelyhoods to the other constituents.
However, Hon Zainab Gimba’s gesture, which was hailed by the people across Nigeria, did not go down well with her colleagues as their constituents put pressure on them to deliver the dividends of democracy to them.
Indeed, the members of the House of Representatives, in a statement by the official spokesperson of the green chamber, Rep. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, were forced to explain that what their Borno colleague distributed did not come from resources she got at the National Assembly.
Kalu, in the statement issued on Tuesday, said: “The House congratulates Rep. Zainab Gimba (Ph.D), the good people of Bama, Ngala, Kala-Balge Federal Constituency in Borno State and all beneficiaries of the recent empowerment program organized by Rep. Gimba.
“The people of Kala-Balge remain one of the communities in Borno most affected by the crises of insecurity and ecological challenges, with entire communities cut off from the rest of the country for 5 to 6 months every year due to flood disasters and forced to migrate to Cameroon. Indeed, they deserve exceptional support.
“As leaders concerned for the wellbeing of our constituents, it is a burden we bear, that
we must often stretch above and beyond the call of duty, applying our personal resources to compensate for gaps in government’s limited resources.
“This is a call that members of the National Assembly over the years have often answered to the best of their individual capabilities. Afterall, the burden of leadership is inextricable from the call for personal sacrifice as readily apparent in the grand gesture of Rep. Gimba to her constituents estimated to be worth several millions of naira.
“However, the House has become moved to issue an official statement in the interest of the various constituencies in the Federation, to correct any misconceptions that financial resources of that worth are available to members of the House for constituency projects.
“Rep. Gimba’s remarkable gesture to her constituents is the first of its kind in the
history of the House of Representatives and the Senate and has nothing to do with the
National Assembly as it is a personal matter sponsored from her own resources.”
Speaking, a public affairs commentator Shuaibu Haruna said the gesture by Zainab Gimba was commendable because constituents now have reasons ask their representatives some questions about representation.
“I read the statement by the House of Representatives spokesperson saying that what Zainab Gimba did for her people did not come from resources she got from the National Assembly. This may be true, but it is not a good defence for the lawmakers’ no-show in their constituencies.
“It is a known fact that many members of the House of Representatives abandon their people once they get to Abuja. Some will not even go back until around another election. But Zainab has shown that not all politicians are the same.
“Rather than badmouthing what Dr Gimba did, the lawmakers should see it as a wakeup call for them to reach out to their people in whatever little way they can. Many people need help, especially with the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our socioeconomic wellbeing.”
