Senate has stabilised Nigeria, says Mark

[Mirror]

•Warns politicians not to overheat the polity The Senate President David Mark has given the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly a pat on the back for stabilising the country in the face of daunting challenges.

In his appraisal of the mid-session of the seventh Senate, which ended yesterday, he said: "Our selfexamination shows that the seventh Senate has maintained the lofty and patriotic tradition of stabilising the nation."

To buttress this assertion, Mark listed the approval of the Senate for the deployment of troops to Mali and the authorisation of the proclamation of state of emergency in three states in the North-East.

He said: "This seventh Senate on two occasions supported the President and the C-in-C's deployment of troops in furtherance of our collective national security and foreign policy."

The Senate president, however, urged that the military operations against violent extremism, both at home and abroad, must be quick, surgical and precise, with as little collateral damage as possible.

Mark also pledged the Red Chamber's support for the recent proscription of Boko Haram and Ansaru by the Federal Government, describing the action as a step in the right direction.

He said: "In this connection, we applaud the proscription of Boko Haram and Ansaru by the Federal Government. Both the proscription and the prescription of stiff penalties for their activities are steps in the right direction."

Mark also recalled the role played by the Senate when the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, proposed the introduction of the N5,000 note.

He said it was as a result of the conviction of the Senate that the policy was ill-digested and that it would have struck a debilitating blow on the national economy that the parliament took the position it adopted, which made reason to prevail and the idea was shelved.

The Senate president also warned politicians against actions capable of overheating the polity, particularly as elections are around the corner.

Mark urged elected officials to focus on governance to justify the electorate's mandate.

The Senate president also reminded war-mongers that history had shown that no nation could survive two civil wars.

National Mirror

[Folami David]

The stability of Nigeria is what we all need to have at heart. We all need to ensure that things go smoothly from now on.