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A delegation of 17
lawmakers from Niger State in Northwestern Nigeria visited the State
Capitol last week to study the legislative process in key cities and
states of the United States. The visit was sponsored by Mississippi
Consortium for International Development (MCID), based at Jackson State
University.
“We were honored to have
some of the leading members of the legislature of the Niger state, one of
the most important economic centers of Nigeria, on a visit here in Jackson
last Tuesday,” said Jude Offiah, coordinator of the MCID legislators’
visitors program. “These included the honorable speaker of the House of
Representatives of Niger State, Mr. Mohammed Alkali, the honorable Susan
Adishetu Gana, commissioner of the Ministry of Environment and Forest
Resources, and the Honorable Shehu Ibn Ibrahim, the special assistant to
the Secretary of State Government office, among other notables.”
The State House of
Assembly is the main component of government in Niger State. The key
operatives of the house are the speaker, the deputy speaker, the majority
leader and the minority leader. As in most state houses in the U. S., most
government work is done in committees under the leadership of the
chairmen, whose party affiliation plays a large role in determining the
allocation of the power positions in the committees.
The legislators and
special government liaisons visiting Mississippi last week, all from the
state of Niger, came to Jackson to observe “the art of legislation,” said
Alkali, who as speaker of the house of representatives of Niger State, was
the senior member of the delegation.
“Niger State is the
largest state in Nigeria in terms of land mass,” Alkali said. “We also
possess three of the largest economic power engines of the country. We
have the highest agricultural production, the three largest electrical
power production stations and the largest national park of Nigeria in our
state. Kanji National Park is home to Kainji Lake, a major resource in
Niger State.”
Frazier serves as the
host to most of the African delegations that visit the State Capitol
periodically throughout the year. The current group of visitors included
state legislators as well as state commissioners and some members from the
executive branch of the state government, Frazier said.
“They came here study
the legislative process,” said Frazier. “They are interested in
strengthening their own legislative branch of government. They spent time
here in Mississippi, in Georgia and in Washington, D. C., before going
back to Nigeria earlier this week.”
Alkali said last year’s
violent conflict in the oil-producing Rivers State area of Nigeria did not
spill over to Niger State.
“The trouble arose
because the common people of the area are not deriving any benefit from
the oil production,” he said. “The foreigners come and take our oil and
the people are not getting the impact they’re supposed to get. Only
recently, a ministry for the development of that area has been created and
has the responsibility for seeing that a more equitable system is
developed.”
Nigeria, the largest of
Africa’s 53 independent countries, is divided into 36 states, most of
which has either a predominantly Christian and Moslem population base.
Niger state is predominantly Moslem.
“Niger State has a
number of landmarks that many tourists find attractive,” says Zainabu
Nasko, one of four female members of the Niger State House of Assembly.
“Many come to view the homes of British explorer Mungo Park and our first
President
Nnamdi ‘Zeke’ Azikiwe. Both men
played a major role in Nigeria’s history and we are proud to claim them as
belonging to Niger State.”
“We welcome tourists in
Niger State,” she says. “There is no hostility or resentment of African
Americans, contrary to what some might say. We need more black people from
America to visit our homeland.” |
