By Jude Chijioke Ndukwe
The recently publicised scorecard of National Assembly members for the period covering June 2023 to May 2024, is not only revealing but also telling, as it has elicited mixed reactions among constituents across the Federation. While many have called on their representatives to shake off any form of docility and other factors that might have led to their low score, others have hailed their representatives for being proactive, innovative and effective.
Among those who have justified the confidence reposed in them by their constituents is the Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District, Senator Austin Akobundu.
Depite being inaugurated nearly six months after the 10th Assembly commenced business, Senator Akobundu, from the Scorecard, has been able to originate and sponsored 5 bills through up to Second Reading at the Senate. Considering that he was inaugurated late in November 2023 after his Distinguished Colleagues had already done 5 months, and the scorecard covered up to May 2024, it means that Senator Akobundu has been able to push a minimum of one bill per month through second reading. At that rate, he is certainly one of the best performing senators in the entire federation. And Abians should be proud of this son of theirs who, by his performance, has brought glory to the state.
For those who understand the rigours associated with the process of lawmaking, they know that to sponsor and push 5 bills through to second reading within 6 months is not a child’s play but the result of innovative thinking, hard work, excellent interpersonal relationship with colleagues across all spectra of interests and leanings, admirable and amiable personality, unblemished communications skill, immense research and data collection, intense lobbying, etc, all resulting from knowing and feeling the pulse of the people they represent through regular formal and informal interactions with them.
The most recent of the bills sponsored by the Senator is the Bill for the Establishment of a Sports University in Nsulu, with all its attendant benefits to the immediate and surrounding communities, people of Abia State and beyond, and the educational development of the country.
Beyond the bills sponsored by the Senator, he has also shown enormous commitment to the socioeconomic development of the people by embarking on several human capital development programmes for the people.
Some of such programmes include the sponsorship of 113 Abians on a full 3-year scholarship to the prestigious National Teachers Institute (NTI) as a way of improving the quality of teaching in particular and education in general in the senatorial district and beyond.
He also sponsored the training of youths of his constituency in the areas of sewing and farming.
Not relenting in his efforts to empower the youths with 21st Century knowledge, he sponsored the training of 400 of them, including pupils in the areas of robotics and engineering which covered the creation of game apps, cartoon characters and animation, housing and vehicle prototypes etc.
Immediately after that came the training of some more youths in the areas of Cosmetology and Paint Making after which the beneficiaries were also given cash awards to motivate and support their efforts at gaining the knowledge. At the closing ceremony of the training, Senator Austin Akobundu reiterated his commitment to the human capital development of Abia youths, turning them from job seekers to job creators, and from labourers to employers of labour.
Currently, the first batch of 186 youths, 3 selected from each of the 62 wards that make up the Abia Central Senatorial District, are being trained in the areas of UI/UX Design, Web Design, Professional Graphics Design, Cyber Security Systems and Operations, Digital Marketing and Forex Trading. The 6-week intensive digital skills acquisition programme sponsored by Senator Akobundu is a further demonstration of his commitment to his people and their welfare, making them become globally competitive in relevant endeavours.
No doubt, Senator Austin Akobundu has become a shiny example of how leaders must impact positively on their people and leave lasting legacies even beyond the next generation. Just within the short period he got to the Senate, he has exerted enormous pressure on himself in order to deliver on his campaign promises, and the people are happy with him, hence, his towering popularity.
An unassuming man of peaceful mien, enormous experience in leadership at various levels, character, competence and capacity, who treats everyone that comes across him with scriptural courtesy, Senator Akobundu has surely proved that the people of Abia Central made the right choice of sending him above others to the Senate.
Jude C. Ndukwe, Abuja
