Dogara: Most house of reps members come to me with wicked problems

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, says many of his colleagues come to him with wicked problems.

Speaking during an interview with Daily Trust, the lawmaker said there is no job in Nigeria that is as demanding as speakership.

He narrated his experience in coordinating the affairs of members of the lower legislative chamber of the national assembly.

“It’s absolutely true that as speaker, I have a very gruelling schedule. You will agree with me that presiding over the affairs of 359 people from different backgrounds is not a cake walk,” he said.

“There’s hardly a day that I don’t see up to 30 members. Assuming each member takes just 30 minutes of your time on the average, most will take more time, that’s 10 hours of the day gone.

“Most members come with problems that are not just difficult, but wicked. Wicked problems because they are complex with no immediate solutions.

“These issues are spiritually, physically, emotionally and psychologically challenging. Therefore, the kind of fatigue you experience is intensely consuming. Not many people have mastered how to deal with this type of fatigue. As a matter of fact, there are times you feel like you should just be left alone.

“The difficulty is that unlike executive position, members are not your subordinates, they are your equals. Greater degree of discretion must be deployed in relating with them and handling issues affecting them.”

Asked what he plans doing after his tenure as speaker, Dogara replied that he would weigh the options available to him and go for the one with maximum impact on people.

“I’ve lost interest in planning the next phase of my life, therefore, my answer to your question is very simple: my training brings me a lot of opportunities for service,” he said.

“When I am done with speakership, I will weigh the opportunities available to me for service and the one that will result in maximum impact on others is the one that I will embrace without equivocation.

“It is not about what I want to do, but how can I deploy my talents and gifts in ways that will have maximum impact on others. I have no other plan.”