The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has celebrated Christmas with his constituents in Ekiti Central as he distributed 3,000 bags of rice to them.
Bamidele, Chairman of the Southern Senators Forum, also pleaded with Nigerians in general to be patient with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, assuring them that the country’s economy would soon recover from its present gnawing crisis.
He gave this assurance in a statement his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs issued on Sunday in Iyin Ekiti, the home country of the Senate Leader, after he addressed his constituents that gathered to celebrate Christmas with him.
Addressing the constituents on Sunday, Bamidele reflected on the country’s economic crisis, which were triggered by COVID-19 and global economic turbulence that occurred after the pandemic that claimed thousands of lives across the world.
Just about two years after the global pandemic, the senate leader explained that President Tinubu assumed office with an ambitious plan to rebuild, reconstruct and revamp the country’s troubled economy.
He explained that the process of economic reconstruction “has started already. All Nigerians, whether in the cities or remote villages, will start experiencing the gains of economic programmes President Tinubu has initiated under his Renewed Hope Agenda.
“As a federation, we may be witnessing difficult times currently. But we will walk into an era of economic boom, for which all Nigerians will glorify the Name of God Almighty. The time is no longer far. It will begin to manifest with the implementation of the 2024 appropriation, which the National Assembly will pass into law this week.
“All the committees of the National Assembly have concluded their hearings. They have equally submitted their reports to the Committee on Appropriations, whose members are now looking into the committees’ reports ahead of the plenary.
“After this Christmas holiday, the National Assembly will reconvene on December 29 to deliberate on the report of the Committee on Appropriations. Hopefully, before the end of this year, the National Assembly will pass the 2024 appropriations bill and also transmit to the Presidency for assent.
“As a parliament, we are committed to maintaining our tradition of January-December budget cycle. Since 2019, we have kept to this tradition and will not allow anything to disrupt it in order to deepen the budget governance,” the senate leader explained with an assurance for a more prosperous Nigeria.
Also, in his Christmas message, Bamidele preached peaceful co-existence among all ethnic nationalities across the federation, warning that no country could witness development progress in an atmosphere of ethnic disharmony.
He also urged the Christian faithfuls to imbibe the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, who graciously laid down His lives for all, irrespective of our religious leanings, to reconcile us with God Almighty.
The message reads in part: “As we celebrate Christmas, I implore Nigerians to graciously live by the doctrines of Lord Jesus Christ. During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ showed the path to life that every nation, people and race should follow.
“In particular, Jesus Christ emphasised faith in God Almighty, love among people of all races, patience in the face of adversity, perseverance at difficult times and honesty in public and private engagements,” Bamidele wrote in his Christmas message.