Bamidele Salam

Bamidele Salam (born 1 October 1969) is a lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as a Member of the House of Representatives in the 9th and 10th Nigeria National Assembly. He represents the Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, and Ejigbo Federal Constituency of Osun State. Quotes One of the fundamental realities of our nationhood is that we have not been able to move at a pace that is commensurate with our desires and needs as a third world country. With a population that is estimated to be almost 200 million and after 60 years of self- governance, we are not where we ought to be. And certainly, one of the reasons why we are not where we ought to be is the fact we spend too much money on things that are no necessary. We waste a lot of resources on government bureaucracies and structures and many things that are not relevant to development. Interview response to the question 'one of the major issues many Nigerians believe is frustrating the development of the country is the cost of the current government structure. Do you agree? The same thing applies to the institution of the legislature which operates a bicameral legislature, with 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate. I am of the view that this structure does not allow for efficiency and productivity. All the structures (federal, state and local) combined constitute a heavy burden on the lean resources that we have as a country. We are a country that is dependent on revenue from oil. The cost of production of oil in Nigeria is about the highest in the world, yet as we speak today, we are limited to producing about 1.7 million barrels of oil per day. And the prices of oil continue to fluctuate from $39 to $42 per barrel. With the projection in the international oil market, there is a great likelihood that oil cannot go beyond $45 in the next three years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and others issues. So, the resources are dwindling and when resources dwindle, a reasonable country will look at how to invest the little resources in the real sector of the economy. Interview response to the question' What about the legislative arm?' My proposition is that we should have the House of Representatives as the functional legislative body of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that sits all year round except when on recess, while the Senate should be an ad hoc body that only sits for the confirmation of critical appointments by the president – appointment of ministers, judges and justices, and members of the statutory bodies like the National Judicial Council, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, National Population Commission – and sitting only on ad hoc basis, a maximum of four times in a year. Every other responsibility such as lawmaking, appropriation and others should be handled by the House of Representatives, which is representational enough. It has enough balance in geography, population and other demography you can need for a country’s parliament. Interview response to the question 'How should it be restructured to save resources?' We could call it a modified bicameral legislature. It is so because unlike what they have in the United States which we have copied, where legislators sit on a full-time basis, we are adopting a system that concentrates the responsibilities and powers on two organs but at varying degrees of functionality. In other words, the people that will be in the Senate, who in other climes are supposed to be elder statesmen, should not be sitting on a daily basis as we have today. We can call it a modified bicameral legislature that eases the burden on the lean resources of the country and allows for greater productivity. I am saying this very passionately because if you look at what we have today, when one chamber of the National Assembly passes a bill, the other chamber has to pass it concurrently and we may have to have a conference to harmonise differences (in the versions passed). It is more or less a duplication of efforts. When you go for budget sessions, ministries, departments and agencies will appear before each chamber of the National Assembly to defend their budgets. They waste time and resources. Interview response to the question 'Would such a legislature be called unicameral or bicameral?' Yes, I will say that, to a large extent, the House has been very productive in terms of law-making, oversight and advocating for the good of the masses. If I am not mistaken, as of February, the number of bills initiated by members was about 700. This is an average of 80 bills per month. That number must have increased significantly now in spite of the impact of the coronavirus on the sitting of the parliament in the last few months. The House has also considered and passed hundreds of motions on critical issues which touch on the lives of the average Nigerian. response to the question 'Will you say the House of Representatives has in anyway justified its purpose in this one year?' I give glory to God and thank the people of my constituency for the privilege given me to represent them in the House of Representatives. While campaigning for the office, I did promise to be a legislator who will be meaningfully visible both at plenary and in the constituency. I have kept faith with this promise and have results to show. Three of my bills have passed first reading and they are pieces of legislation that will affect the public for good. The bills are the Sickle Cell Disease and other Inheritable Blood Disorder Bill, the bill to amend the National Directorate of Employment, meant to make the agency better positioned to create jobs for our youths and the Volunteerism Agency Bill, which will provide a legal framework for volunteerism and social work in Nigeria. The sickle Cell Bill is particularly dear to my heart as Nigeria, being the country with the highest number of sickle cell patients in the world does not have any legislative framework to cater for this category of citizens. Interview response to what has been his impact in booth lawmaking and constituency development External links Category:Politicians from Nigeria Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Lawyers from Nigeria Category:Journalists from Nigeria