RAYMOND OZOJI reports
The lawmaker representing Aguata 2 state constituency in the 8th legislature of Anambra State Hon. Chief Tony Muobike ( Dike Anagbara Izu), a Nigerian-born Canadian citizen has explained the remote reasons he left his comfort zone in Canada to return home to serve his people in Aguata 2 state constituency, Aguata Local Government Area of the state.
Muobike who will be marking his two years in office on 12th June this year as the House of Assembly member representing Aguata 2 constituency, told this journalist exclusively that the experience has been very worthwhile, ensuring that he didn't fall short of the expectations of his people and didn't also make his constituents regret the confidence reposed in him as well as their collective decision to elect him to represent them in the 8th assembly.
Unlike most politicians who will abandon their duty posts and abdicate their responsibilities by embarking on prolonged trips abroad for their personal businesses shortly after being elected into office, Muobike stated that since he was elected to represent his constituency in the legislature, he has never abandoned his legislative duties and embarked on frivolous travels especially when the House of Assembly is still in session.
He said, " I have to attend to plenaries. I have to be there for my people. I have to be there when they call me. I have to go down to my constituency to know what is happening there. So the job requires my physical presence down here. So in the last two years, I have been around. I only travel during recess but during work time, I am here. I have never been out of Nigeria when the assembly is in session and hopefully the trend will continue. I will always be here for my people until my tenure is done. "
Muobike who is the House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Health, said he worked for himself in Canada but in Nigeria, he is working for his people. He said that the experience is more exciting because he believes that in life, it is not what one does for himself but what is done for the generality of the people thereby leaving footprints in the sands of time.
The lawmaker who is very passionate about access to quality comprehensive healthcare, said he has sponsored a basic life support training programme for over 100 youths in the entire Aguata Local Government Area and that currently, many of the youths hold licenses from the Nigerian Red Cross Society as accredited First Aiders.
Apart from training emergency responders, Muobike disclosed that last year, he enrolled about 350 of his constituents into the Anambra State Health Insurance Scheme and that today many of them are getting free health services. He said he equally ensured that Primary Healthcare Centres in Aguata Local Government Area were included amongst the ones that were renovated in the first phase of PHCs renovations in Anambra State last year and that the PHCs are currently very functional.
He said another significant milestone he made in the last two years was the registration of Apex School of Nursing Igboukwu to help reduce the shortage of nurses in his constituency and the council area. That he was also very instrumental in attracting the state government to do the renovation and reconstruction of Ekwulobia General Hospital to make it become very solid for optimum service delivery.
In the realm of motions, the erudite lawmaker stated that he moved a number of motions on the floor of the House of Assembly in the last two years that impacted positively on the citizens of Anambra State. He said he moved a motion calling on the state governor to direct the Commissioner for Education to include Basic Life Support Training in the educational curriculum of secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the state essentially to equip them with basic knowledge and skills needed for rapid response to emergency situations like home accidents, stroke, snake bites and so on before comprehensive care is administered at the hospital.
The House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Health said he also moved a motion calling for the regulation of Food and Allied Food Products in the state to prevent public health hazards that may arise from intake and consumption of food in canteens, restaurants, fastfood joints, eateries and other public eating outlets. According to him, the Anambra State Ministry of Health has swung into action; carrying out inspections on public eating centres across Ànambra to ascertain the level of cleanliness and hygiene practices being observed in the preparation of the food they sell to members of the public.
Apart from the motion regulating Food and Allied Food Products in the state, Muobike stated that he moved a motion calling on the state government to intervene to ensure the speedy resolution of the impasse between traders at the Bridge Head Drug Market (Ogbo-Ogwu) Onitsha and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Although he said they were happy that the market has been reopened after his motion but information from the market revealed that some traders still have their shops locked. Also that the most disturbing issue reaching the House of Assembly is that NAFDAC is collecting money from some traders before their shops will be opened. He therefore emphasized that the House of Assembly is in the process of carrying out investigations to confirm the veracity or otherwise of it and also to ensure that the traders are protected from any form of extortion by any government agency not just NAFDAC.
Muobike who emphasized that he has done his best to represent Aguata 2 state constituency in the three areas of lawmaking, constituency representation and oversight functions in the last years, said he started his legislative duties by moving a motion calling on the state governor to direct the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs to task religious and community leaders to create awareness on controlling burial and funeral ceremonies in the state. He said that shortly after the motion was moved and became a resolution of the House of Assembly, excesses associated with burial ceremonies were drastically reduced in the state and there is strict adherence now to the Anambra State Burial Law.
The first time legislator noted that another motion he sponsored was the motion calling on the governor to direct the Commissioner for Petroleum to establish standards and procedures for the safe conversation of liquified natural gas to prevent explosions, unnecessary injuries and fatalities.
The motion calling on Anambra indigenes in private and public service to join hands with the state government in the development of rural communities was another remarkable achievement of his stewardship in the last two years. This he said is in line with government's Public Private Community Partnership model where public-spirited individuals undertake developmental projects like road constructions, building of schools, provision of hospitals and other social amenities to better their communities and to complement government efforts.
In terms of bills, Muobike opined that last year he sponsored a private member bill which was the Anambra State Herbal Practices Bill 2024. The bill he said was successfully passed into law in November last year and that today there is the Anambra State Herbal Practice Law 2024 which has equally been assented to by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo. The law, he said came into force to address issues of quackery in herbal medicine practices and to also reduce incidences of kidney failures resulting from consumption of poorly prepared herbal drugs.
The Anambra State Bursary Bill, according to him, is another bill he sponsored and has scaled through second reading though still at the committee stage awaiting much tinkering for onward passage into law. He stated that he has other bills at different stages of tinkering and that hopefully before the end of this year, they would see the light of the day.
In terms of representation of the people, the Aguata 2 constituency representative revealed that he has been involved in youth and community empowerment and development programmes in the last two years. He said he launched the Aguata Youth Run/Walk for Life; a monthly exercise programme he did in collaboration with the National Youth Council of Nigeria Aguata Chapter and with the Healthy Living Programme of the First Lady of Anambra State, Dr.Mrs. Nonye Soludo.
He said he sponsored 22 youths of Aguata 2 constituency to the Anambra State Talent Show that happened in 2023
coupled with the advocacy championed by his office for Aguata youths to participate in the state government's One Youth Two Skills Development Programme which many of them are already graduates of the skill acquisition programme.
He said in terms of project execution in his constituency, he built a modern toilet and convenience facility for the students of Community Secondary School Aguluezechukwu. That he also continued to provide support to his people through palliative maintenance and construction of roads in his country home Umuona. He said he has been undertaking projects on road infrastructure in Umuona his hometown even before he became a member of the House of Assembly and that December of 2024 was the third year he has been undertaking road construction projects in his community, Umuona.
Muobike further disclosed that through his office, he was able to attract the construction and asphalting of the Umuona-Aguluzigbo-Nanka road, currently being constructed by the Anambra State Government even as he expressed profound gratitude to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for listening to the voices of his people and awarding the road for construction; that today the Umuona section of the road has been successfully asphalted while work is still ongoing on the Nanka-Aguluzigbo sections.
Muobike stated that he successfully attracted a 500KVA transformer to a section of Umuona town to address issues of perennial power outage in about four villages who were without electricity for upwards of one year. That through his intervention, the four villages now enjoy electricity supply today.
Apart from the foregoing, the lawmaker informed that he attracted erosion control projects to his constituency. He said he attracted the Ekwulobia-Oko road erosion control and the Ikenga-Igboukwu flood control projects where the state government has embarked on rescue missions to ameliorate the situations coupled with attracting a secondary school to his home town Umuona now known as Community Secondary School Umuona.
He noted that part of what he did was to also get the Speaker of the House of Assembly to lead a high-powered delegation to visit Aguata High School, his Alma Mata to address issues of perimeter fencing of the school and other forms of dilapidations in the school.
He said that through his intervention the state government through the Ministry of Education will include Aguata High School amongst schools that the fencing will be done to help secure the teachers and students who are studying there, with hope that much of what they are doing will help the people, pointing out that the state government is also involved in a lot of road construction projects in Aguata Local Government Area. That he is equally intervening in palliative flood control measures arising from the construction works due to the rainy season, pending when the road construction projects will be completed.
More importantly, the lawmaker emphasized that the House Committee on Health has been conducting oversights on the Ministry of Health to ascertain the functionality of the Primary Healthcare Centres in Anambra State. Outcomes of the oversights, according to him, revealed that the Primary Healthcare Centres are working quite well. He recalled that Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo announced free healthcare for the people of Anambra State and that more people are coming to receive comprehensive healthcare services because they don't pay for it.
According to him, more women are being delivered of babies free of charge and that people come from neighbouring states especially Ebonyi State to have their babies delivered in Anambra hospitals because of the free services government declared at the hospitals. He maintained that the fact remains that Anambra State has a system where babies are being delivered; people are being taken care of and there are no mortalities whatsoever, adding that the PHCs are working very well even as he encouraged the governor and the Ministry of Health to continue what they are doing for the people because from what he sees, the Primary Healthcare Centres are delivering on the mandate of getting healthcare to the most basic level of the society which he said are people in the villages where the PHCs are located.
Muobike who took ample time to recount his experiences in the last two years of his stewardship in the 8th assembly, maintained that the people of Aguata 2 state constituency should expect more of people-oriented representation at the House of Assembly for the remaining two years of his tenure because he left Canada to return home to serve his people and to ensure that the people of Aguata 2 state constituency got the very best of governmental representation in the legislative arm of government.
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