By Maxwell Ogiri
A fortnight ago, I published an article titled, “FUHSO BILL: SEN. ABBA MORO, GOOD LEADERS LEAD, NOT MISLEAD,” wherein I dismissed as patent falsehood and calculated attempt to hoodwink the people of Benue South, desperate attempts by Senator Abbo Moro to hog the limelight for sponsorship of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, (FUHSO) (Establishment) Bill 2021, and facilitation of its subsequent assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
I must establish that as a citizen of Benue South, I welcome the establishment of FUHSO with utmost delight. However, I equally know it is unfair, unethical and utterly illegal for Sen. Moro to take credit for the assiduous efforts of others, especially when the subject matter is in the purview of his official functions as a senator, thereby seeking a cheap bailing outlet for his bald-faced indolence and incompetence.
However, a few of my brothers were pricked by the truth, so they came for my jugular. In particular, one Adakole Elijah, who dubs himself “The Living Ancestor”, published an infuriating rejoinder, labeling me a liar for revealing that FUHSO was actually established by an Executive Bill, and not any bill sponsored by his apparent paymaster, Sen. Moro.
In fact, Mr. Elijah’s frenetic attempts to cover-up falsehood with more falsehood roused me to righteous indignation, compelling me to publish a riposte titled, “FUHSO ESTABLISHMENT BILL: TO REPOSE & TO ABIDE WITH THE ANCESTORS,” wherein I promised to publish proof at my disposal that FUHSO was indeed a creation of an Executive Bill, certainly not a Bill sponsored by Sen. Moro. This article is an unpretentious attempt to live up to my word, by revealing details of how FUHSO came into being.
It is instructive for all Nigerians, especially the good people of Benue South, to be rightly informed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had at its 20th May, 2015 meeting tagged, “EC(2015) 11th Meeting,” approved the establishment of the FUHSO. That was four clear years before Sen. Moro was elected into the Senate. Unfortunately, the implementation of the approval was suspended until 2019, when Mr. President approved the restoration of the operations of the university with effect from 15th June, 2019.
Mr. President’s approval was in response to a memo written by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), with Ref. No. SGF/S.14/T/285, and titled, “RE: REQUEST FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, OTUKP, BENUE STATE,” and was conveyed by the late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, via memo PRES/BI/SGF/364 of June 7, 2019.
Following Mr. President’s approval, an Inter-Ministerial Drafting Committee comprising the Ministries of Justice and Education; the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other stakeholders was constituted to prepare the draft Bill for the establishment of the university. The draft Bill was subsequently forwarded to the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice (AGF&MOJ) for review.
Satisfied that the Bill met the requisite standard, the AGF&MOJ granted approval for the Bill to be presented to the FEC for consideration and approval. The draft Bill was subsequently presented to the FEC by the Honourable Minister of Education on 5th November, 2021, via memo EC(2021)268.
Consequently, the FEC approved the Bill and it was transmitted to the National Assembly for enactment into law. To buttress my claim, Mr. President himself transmitted the Bill to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 24th March, 2022 via a memo titled, “TRANSMISSION OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, OTUKPO, BENUE STATE BILL FOR CONSIDERATION.”
In Mr. President’s letter to the Hon. Speaker, he specifically urged the House to grant the FUHSO Bill expeditious consideration. What would’ve compelled Mr. President to write to the House seeking the prompt passage of the FUHSO Bill, if it weren’t an Executive Bill?
I can categorically inform that FUHSO was originally conceived by the Federal Ministry of Education to serve as a Centre of Excellence for teaching and research, while providing world-class medical services in various specializations to significantly improve the production of qualified medical and health personnel, thereby reducing national dependency on medical tourism. Hence, it became more imperative for the university to take-off as part of Federal Government’s Medium Term Strategy to build national resilience and preparedness to combat COVID-19 and similar health challenges. These facts are contained in the memo of the Honourable Minister of Education to Mr. President, with Ref. No. FME/TE/SU/437/II/926, of 8th May, 2020 titled, “COMPELLING NEED FOR COMMENCEMENT OF ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES AT THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, OTUKPO, BENUE STATE.”
Any other stories about the establishment of FUHSO aside the above, concocted by Sen. Moro and his league of blind cheerleaders, are blatant lies from the very pits of hell! And it beats my imagination how a man elected to serve as the face, voice and conscience of my people in the Senate could unashamedly lie to the very constituents that conferred their trust in him.
I believe it is the civic responsibility of citizens to hold their leaders to account. Hence, when a public official is evidently unable to effectively discharge his or her official functions due to either corruption or incompetence or both, it is incumbent on the informed electorate to expose and criticize such an official. Anyone who conspires to conceal the incompetence of a public official is as culpable as that official, in shortchanging the people.
Indeed, it is possible that Sen. Moro, having seen that the FUHSO Bill enjoyed Executive backing, smartly latched onto the tides and presented a similar Bill. But that would be crass opportunism! The lucid truth is that the FUHSO Bill 2021, which was recently passed into law, was an Executive Bill – period.
Accordingly, we must commend the vision of the Ministry of Education, specifically the Honourable Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu, and the former Permanent Secretary, our very own Arch. Sonny S.T. Echono, for conceiving, proposing and drafting the initial FUHSO Bill. We must equally commend the Office of the AGF&MOJ for vetting the draft Bill. Other credits would go to Mr. President, who expeditiously forwarded the Bill to the National Assembly and subsequently assented to it.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been infuriated by the weak defense that Mr. Elijah attempted to put up for his paymaster, if he were another callow Nigerian with regards to Legislation. But having served as a Legislative Aide to the former Senate President, Senator David Mark, I believe he knew very well what I was talking about, yet decided to lie blatantly in order to deceive or confuse unsuspecting members of the public. I find such lies densely irritating.
Haven proven beyond reasonable doubt that the FUHSO (Establishment) Bill 2021 is an Executive Bill, and certainly not sponsored by Sen. Moro, it is therefore safe to conclude that none of the Bills ever sponsored by Sen. Moro has seen the light of the day, against the publication of the Policy and Legislative Advocacy Center (PLAC) on its website, which erroneously credited the sponsorship of the FUHSO Bill to Sen. Moro. All his Bills are at best, awaiting the reports of various committees of the Senate.
That equally extrapolates to the fact that the last four years of Sen. Moro in the Senate has been an awful waste to the nation, especially to the good people of Benue South that elected him into the Senate.
The only avenue for Sen. Moro to redeem himself and compensate for his wasted years in the Senate, is to ensure that the Federal College of Agricultural Technology, Opialu-Ojapo, Benue State (Establishment) Bill, 2022 (SB 897), which he actually sponsored and has since awaiting Committee’s Report, is successfully passed into law in the fleeting period of his service in the Senate, and that the institution is eventually established in Benue South for the benefit of all Nigerians.
A Professor of Theology once stated, “Leadership is a sacred responsibility with multiple dimensions”. The current socioeconomic realties confronting all nations of the world requires that we take governance with utmost seriousness by ensuring that only people of proven character, competence and commitment ascend to public office. Indolent liars like Sen. Abba Moro clearly have no place in the Hallowed Chamber of the Nigerian Senate.
I rest my case.
Maxwell Ogiri writes from Abuja, Nigeria
