From: Okey Sampson, Aba
For the people of Aba North/South Federal Constituency, Hon. Ossy Prestige, has done well in the House of Representatives, where he is currently representing them.
They are happy that the lawmaker has always touched home. If he was not visiting home to see his constituents and pay the hospital bills of some indigent ones among them, nor moving motions on the hallowed floor of the Green Chamber of the National Assembly, he was dragging his colleagues to Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State to see the state of things with an aim of making a positive change.
Recently, Hon. Prestige who has been dubbed a jinx breaker went beyond rhetoric to score yet another goal.
This time around, he dragged not only the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, and some of his colleagues, but also the Secretary to the Government of the Federal (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, Prof. Bem Angwe, the Executive Secretary Human Rights Commission and other dignitaries, to the Enyimba city of Aba.
He marked his first year in the House with an empowerment programme and the people who saw the items that were given out were not surprised that the crème de la crème in the society graced the occasion.
Despite the heaven opening up on that day and sending down the rain, the people of Aba North and South defied the rains to come out en masse to witness the event, saying that it was the first time a lawmaker representing the area was touching the lives of the people the way Prestige did.
Items distributed at the event included over 50 tricycles, 100 motorcycles, hundreds of generating sets, bags of rice, wrappers, assorted sewing machines, blankets, among several other materials.
Speaking in his capacity as the chairman on the occasion, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Lawal who was represented by Hon. Gideon Sammani, senior special assistant to the President on Political Matters, lauded Prestige’s courage and the qualities he possesses, pointing out that it was what has endeared him to not only to his colleagues, but also the executive arm.
Lawal said it was for this the Presidency would like to work closely with Prestige particularly in the area of fight against corruption with an aim of making Nigeria truly a great nation.
The SGF who lamented the poor state of roads in the South-East said the Buhari administration was committed to delivering his campaign promises to Nigerians as the government hopes that the country’s economy would get better.
On the Niger Delta issue, the SGF used the forum to solicit support of the South-East and other stakeholders to assist the Federal Government to beg the militants to sheathe their swords and allow the incumbent administration to bring about development in the area, as well as facilitate the cleaning of the Ogoni land project.
His words: “The President (Buhari) is looking for men and women like Ossy Prestige to help him rebuild the nation, make it great again, do away with corrupt people and to recover looted funds. We want to call on you to assist the government so that we will give Mr. President a chance to enable him bring development to the people (of Niger Delta). From the President’s statement, he has the interest of the people (Niger Delta) at heart and from what he has started doing, it shows that he is concerned about the region and the cleansing of Ogoni Land in particular.”
Also the House of Representatives Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Chukwudi Wilfred Onyema who represented the Speaker of the House of Representatives, commended Prestige for his quality representation of his people.
He said that the Speaker and other of his colleagues were very proud of him and urged him to continue with the good works he was doing.
In his address, Hon. Prestige said he was pushed to empower his constituents as a way of redeeming his electioneering promises of touching the lives of his people positively and to also assist the Federal Government in its fight against joblessness amongst the teeming Abia and Nigerian youths, even as he promised to do more.
Giving a rundown of his performance in the last one year as the representative of the area, Prestige said he has been able to sponsor over 50 graduates of Aba North and South regardless of their local governments and states of origin to any European country of their choice for their post-graduate studies even as many others are in line to benefit from the exercise.
The lawmaker who is also a member of the House Committee on Army and Customs added that he has through his medical outreach programme provided medical services to over 3,200 sick people with over 110 referrals whose medical bills and sundry expenses have equally been paid for, adding that over 2,000 contact lenses have been provided for patients with various kinds of eye related diseases while over 100 wheelchairs have equally been given out to some physically challenged persons in the area.
Lamenting that most residents of his constituency have been finding it difficult to access major parts of the commercial city, he said that he was moved to acquire a grading machine to grade internal roads in the two local government areas to alleviate the sufferings of commuters and others road users under his “Roads Rehabilitation Emergency Scheme.”
The Abia lawmaker while lauding the cordial relationship he has enjoyed with his colleagues despite being one of the opposition voices in the House stated that he has sponsored seven bills, moved 10 motions that would benefit his constituents and other Nigerians which have either been passed or at the various stages of being passed.
He promised to ensure that people of the area would always feel the impact of good and quality representation which he said they have been deprived of in the past.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to Oriental News thanked the lawmaker, adding that the items shared would go a long way to relieve them from their present conditions and urged him not to relent.