ABATEMI-USMAN: A SENATOR'S MID-TERM SCORECARD

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When Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman declared his intention to vie for the Senatorial seat of Kogi Central on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prior to the April 2011 general election, not many believed he was going to get anywhere in the contest. He was perhaps seen as a political ‘greenhorn’, a ‘small boy’, who may not really have the financial muscle and understanding required to withstand the calibre of those involved in the race.

Nevertheless, Abatemi-Usman went into the political match with a very strong willpower and conviction, and on April 9, 2011, he emerged victorious at the main poll, after defeating thirteen known political titans in the area, including the supposed candidate of the then governor to clinch Kogi Central PDP Senatorial ticket. Popularly known as ‘Deen’, the people believed that his victory was simply the will of God, as they have for long been seeking for a change in the political climate of the zone, because for them, their previous leaders have failed to meet their yearnings and aspirations.

In fact, his total acceptance by the people was shown by the way Okene, the headquarters of the senatorial district, erupted into wild street jubilation and celebration, when he was declared winner of the NASS poll for Kogi Central. The Ebira people were of the belief that his triumph against all odds may have opened up a new vista and era that promised dynamic and robust representation for the Senatorial District.

The large turnout of his constituents from the five local government councils within the district at the constituency briefing held in Okene, on July 6, 2013, to present his mid-term scorecard evidently confirmed the people’s appreciation of the Senator’s sterling leadership style. The youngest Senator in the seventh Senate has since assumption of office demonstrated his ability to lead and shown his very deep understanding and knowledge of the workings of the legislative processes. His experience as an aide to the erstwhile Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, coupled with the various professional courses he undertook, including high-level legislative training at the International Law Institute, Washington DC, USA and Akademie Fur Welthandel, Germany all seem to be working for him in the discharge of his duty as a Senator.

The vibrant, ebullient, eloquent and soft-spoken Senator, who has always been in the news on account of his valuable contributions on the floor of the Senate and his activities at the home front, since the inauguration of the seventh federal parliament on June 6, 2011, used the occasion to highlight his efforts and achievements in the last two years, as contained in a publication distributed to the people.

L-R; Sen. Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, Prof. Jegede and former PDP Finance Director, Michael Obaro

Thanking the people for considering him fit for the exalted position of a Senator, which is the highest political office in the senatorial district, he said: “How time flies! Much has been achieved since I started this journey for you, and it is time to fulfill the promise that I made to be accountable to you. We have put together this publication to share a summary of the progress made during these last two years. My focus has been upon key activities and initiatives to positively impact upon and improve lives, through community based projects, whilst championing steel production and then creating support structures and mechanisms to help uplift the local economy and self-development.”

One of the key efforts of the 42-year-old Senator is the push for the revival and full operation of Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASCO) and National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe. This resulted in the disbandment of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) and appointment of sole administrators for the two firms, with a seasoned metallurgical engineer, Joseph Isah Onobere, a Kogi State indigene of Ebira extraction as ASCO boss.

The IMC was actually set up in 2008 after the concession agreement between the Federal Government and Global Infrastructure Holdings Nigeria Limited was cancelled and it was to run the companies for six months.


The scorecard publication of Senator Deen showed pictures of transformers and boreholes (hand-pump and motorized) provided for different communities across the district, while also pushing for the construction of Ekuku and Osara dams as well as rehabilitation of Ogori Water Treatment Plant to solve the perennial water problem in the central senatorial district of Kogi State.

Other efforts of the Senator include the setting up of an NGO with a take-off fund of N20m to equip his people with the necessary skills, support and management required for effective wealth creation; the push for the employment of about 100 members of his constituency in various agencies of government; inclusion of the construction of a primary healthcare centre for the people of Upake community in Ajaokuta Local Government and completion of the abandoned NTA sub-station at Okene in the 2013 budget.

Aside co-sponsoring a good number of bills and motions on issues of national importance, Senator Abatemi-Usman has fully sponsored three significant bills which have all passed second readings and are all clearly people-oriented in nature. First among the three bills he sponsored is a bill for the full integration of persons with disabilities into the society and the establishment of a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

The Disability Bill, no doubt, will go a long way in ameliorating the sufferings of the more than 22.5 million disabled Nigerians. The National Commission proposed in the Bill for disabled people will be vested with the responsibilities for their education, healthcare and protection of their social, economic and civil rights. The second bill is seeking to alter the provisions of the 1999 Constitution to provide for financial autonomy for Local Government Councils in Nigeria. While the third bill in the name of Senator Abatemi-Usman is a bill for an Act to repeal the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881 as applicable in the Federal Capital Territory, and provide for improvement in the law relating to conveyancing and property. This bill is aimed at helping ordinary citizens to acquire homes in FCT and making the law on buying and selling of homes in the country’s capital more certain, modern and indigenous, as well as encouraging sincere lenders to lend, while protecting sincere borrowers.

Various speakers at the Senator’s constituency briefing, acknowledged the Senator’s quality representation and his effort at ensuring that his people are completely carried along and duly informed of his activities in the Senate, a situation which, to them, was not the case with the previous leaders of the area. Abatemi-Usman was described as the people’s Senator, a great promoter of peace, whose emergence as the political leader of Kogi Central has brought an end to the very dicey issue of thuggery in politics for which Ebiraland was hitherto known for.

Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, Secretary to Kogi State Government (SSG), an indigene of Ogori/Magongo, one of the five local government councils in the district, while identifying unemployment as a major problem in Kogi Central said: “I must say that personally I know many other things the Senator has done that are not here (scorecard publication). And that is to tell you that he has taken not only giant but bold strides that are significant for us in our central senatorial district. But there are issues and the issues border more on encouraging him to do more. I wouldn’t want to go over all the issues but for me the most important is to make sure that employment of all our youths, our able-bodied people return to our senatorial district.”

Written By Michael Jegede

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