Avoid Stepping on Banana Peels, Nwaka Counsels Deputy Speaker, Kalu

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

A former third republic lawmaker, Senator Emma Nwaka, has advised the Deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, to avoid stepping on the proverbial banana peels.

He gave the advice in a congratulatory message he addressed to Kalu following his emergence as the number two presiding officer in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

Nwaka expressed delight at the political height Kalu has attained, saying that if he sidesteps the banana peels strewn along the terrain the Deputy Speaker would hold his head high at the end of the day.

He urged the 10th National Assembly members from Abia State to subsume their different political platforms and join hands with the state governor and together uplift their state.

“At the end of the day what matters really is not the political party one belongs to but the ability of all of you working together in harmony to attract democracy dividends to our state in general and your respective constituencies,” Nwaka said.

However, Nwaka, who is a former State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), encouraged Kalu and other Abia federal lawmakers to work in harmony with the Abia Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, in order to attract democracy dividends from the centre.

He said that Kalu has demonstrated his knack for networking, citing the apparent effortless ease with which he networked with politicians of diverse political leanings thereby earning the support and trust of his colleagues to emerge Deputy Speaker.

According to Nwaka, networking with politicians from different parties is a major trait needed “in large doses by anyone who  intends to make success of their political career in our complex and difficult political environment.”

He predicted that Kalu “will go places” having been following the political trajectory of the lawmaker representing Bende federal constituency.

Nwaka, who was Abia North Senator in the short lived third republic, advised federal lawmakers from Abia to emulate their third republic predecessors by working harmoniously with their state governor “for the good of Abia”.