THE 8TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN NIGERIA ,LESSONS FOR AFRICANS' DEMOCRACY

THE 8TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN NIGERIA ,LESSONS FOR AFRICANS' DEMOCRACY

Nigeria held its general elections for the Presidential/National Assembly on 28th March 2015 and the Governorship/State House of Assembly on the 11th of April 2015.

Reports from both foreign and local observers who observed these two elections were very peaceful and Nigerians participated in large numbers as General Muhammadu Buhari from the (APC) was declared the winner of the presidential election.The results from the National Assembly declared 108 Senators and 360 House of Representative members which gave birth to the 8th National Assembly on Tuesday the 9th of June, 2015 at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.

On the 9th of June, 2015 new leadership emerged in the upper red chambers of the National Assembly with  Dr. Bukola Saraki as the new Senate President and Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President.

This development is a good news for both  African political development and Nigeria in general and will allow inclusive democracy to take its full course. In the past assembly, it was the ruling party that dominated the leadership of the house, but now both the opposition and the governing party have shared power as the Senate President is from the governing party APC, and the Deputy Senate President from the opposition,a lesson many parliaments in Africa must learn to build good multi party democracy and provide checks and balances needed for democratic transparency and progress.

The Lower House or green chamber which is the House of Representatives elected Hon. Yakubu Dogara as the New Speaker of the House of Representatives and of Hon. Yusuf Sulainman Lasun as the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives respectively.

The 8th National Assembly leadership is embracing all parties which demonstrate a true spirit of democracy worth emulating.

Unlike the South African Parliament which is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, both house have Females as its leaders. The speaker of the National Assembly is from ANC Balaka Mbete while the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces is Thandi Modise also from ANC.

The First Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa emerged in 1994 as the majority and governing party with the ANC leadership at the helm  of the affairs in the parliament until the last election in May 2014, about 21 years now thus making the ANC the majority party now in its 5th Democratic Parliament of the Republic. The National Party also dominated the South African Parliament for decades before the ANC emerged but the beauty of time democracy is CHANGE and this is why the 8th National Assembly in Nigeria has embraced not only the governing or majority party as its leaders but also bringing into the scene the opposition for a formidable teamwork.

Also the parliament of Kenya consist of two Houses like the Nigerian National Assembly; the Senate (Upper House) and the National Assembly (Lower House) but different length of term as parliament of Kenya length of term is (5) five years while the Nigerian National Assembly term is (4) four years term.

The Senate President in the Kenyan parliament is Ekwee Ethuro, while the Assembly Speaker is Justin Muturi, both representing Jubilee Alliance Party which is the majority party in the parliament.

Jubilee Alliance has taken over the leadership of both houses since the 28th of March, 2013 as the two houses leadership and deputies emerged from the Jubilee Alliance Party a situation the Nigerian National Assembly Upper House was able to bridge the divides and produce a leader of the Senate from the majority and governing party and the deputy Senate President came from the opposition party for the unity of the senate and destroying the ideology of “the winner takes it’s all”.

We can also take a look at the parliament of the Democratic Republic of Congo also comprising of two chambers, the National Assembly and the Senate. The ruling or governing party also dominates the leadership of the parliament. Likewise most parliament and National Assemblies in Africa.

For Africa to have good governance, then the policy makers who are the legislators must agree to work together irrespective of political parties, ethnicity and culture to build a democracy free of bias for the growth and development 
of Africa as a continent.