After 20 years as a legislator, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, bowed out, yesterday. In a valedictory speech to mark the end of the 9th Assembly, Gbajabiamila elicited continued support of his colleagues in his new role as Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.

The Speaker, who served out his fifth term as a legislator representing Surulere federal constituency of Lagos State, pledged to ensure a cordial and productive relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government, while respecting the independence and prerogatives of the legislature.

Cataloguing inroads recorded during his tenure as Speaker, he lamented inability of the chamber to empower women in the country. Gbajabiamila, who had served as Minority and Majority Leader in the 7th and 8th Assembly, charged the incoming 10th Assembly to address nagging issue of removing constitutional barriers that have impeded the growth of womenfolk in Nigeria.

He said: “To succeed in our shared ambition of building a prosperous and peaceful country, we must do everything within our power to ensure that our daughters and those yet to be born can grow up in a more open, more equal society than their mothers did.

“Unfortunately, we did not succeed in removing some of the constitutional barriers that have long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of our nation.

“This issue must continue to be at the fore of our national conversations. I hope the 10th House of Representatives will take up the mantle and do better than we did.”

Gbajabiamila described Nigeria as an unfinished story, a long tale of promise and peril, with final chapters not yet written. He added: “Some persist in believing that this grand nation is a victim of history, that our destiny has already long been written, and that we cannot escape from it. I do not subscribe to this view. In fact, I reject it entirely.

“Indeed, the world today is being remade by profound and powerful forces, and it may seem our destiny no longer lies within our control. But we are a proud and resilient people with a limitless capacity for excellence.

“All that we hope to be, we can. All that we desire is within reach. Our greatest successes as a nation will come when we work together across party lines, without considering differences of tribe and tongue, religion and creed towards the shared goals of our nationhood – peace and prosperity, equity and justice for all.”