By Tonye Clinton Jaja
On behalf of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners-ALDRAP, we tender an unreserved apology to His Excellency Godswill Obot Akpabio-GOA for the public opprobrium and trauma that you have endured because of this Senator Natasha’s matter!!!
We are the professional association of lawyers who are either legislators, legislative staff and consultants who are engaged at the National Assembly of Nigeria and other legislatures within Nigeria and beyond.
We were originally incorporated in the year 2012 in the United Kingdom and later in the year 2017 in Nigeria.
One of the Minority Leaders of one of the chambers of the National Assembly and our national secretariat is at Suite 1.39 House of Representatives wing, National Assembly complex, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Provision of continuing legal education, publication of legislative books and materials and sponsoring public interest litigation are the major methods we apply.
The purpose of this public apology is to try and assuage the trauma that has been inflicted upon your good self, and the entire Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
As evidence of our efforts to use this opportunity to assuage and mitigate any residual feelings of trauma that this matter has brought to your good self, please kindly permit us to refer you to the tolerance and thick skin displayed by His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Such tolerance and thick is a necessity for anyone who wishes to govern and country such as Nigerians!!!
Even before he was sworn-in in May 2023, as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency seemed to understand these two virtues of tolerance and thick-skin.
Recall that during his campaign, a certain former official alleged that His Excellency ought to go and take proper health care of his leaking urinary bladder which was causing him to soil himself.
It did not end at that.
Even an innocuous comment that he made when he spoke in Yoruba language was translated into a full-fledged song entitled: “Emi-Lokan”.
The said song stayed on top of the Nigerian charts for several weeks before his swearing-in in May 2023!!!
Can you forget how all kinds of aspersions were cast regarding his academic credentials which became known as the “Chicago-gate”!!!
To the extent that the Supreme Court of Nigeria had to make pronouncement on this issue!!!
How can anyone forget in any hurry the amount of insults from Nigerians whose economic conditions he is seeking to improve when he removed the petrol subsidy!!!
Instead of them thanking him, they started going online to dig up videos of him being involved in public protests against the administration of former President Jonathan when he temporarily removed the same petrol subsidy in the year 2012!!!
That is the kind of people that the majority of Nigerians are!!!
You can never please them!!!
So on behalf of Senator Natasha who is a lawyer and our member, we write to tender this UNRESERVED APOLOGY!!!
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja!!!
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Secretary,
Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners-ALDRAP.
