Yakubu Dogara

Right Honourable
Yakubu Dogara
8th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria
In office
2015 – present
Preceded by Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
Member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria
In office
2011–2015
Member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria
In office
2007–2011
Personal details
Born (1967-12-26) December 26, 1967
Nationality Nigerian
Political party All Progressive Congress (APC)
Relations Married
Children 2
Residence Bauchi, Abuja
Alma mater University of Jos
Occupation Legislature
Profession Legal Practitioner
Religion Christianity
Website http://www.yakubudogara.com.ng

Yakubu Dogara (born 26 December 1967) is the 8th and current Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives.

Dogara is a Nigerian politician and a member of the APC who has served as the House of Representatives Member for Bogoro/Dass, Nigeria/Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria Federal constituency of Bauchi State since 2007.

Early life and education

Yakubu Dogara was born to Yakubu Ganawuri and Saratu Yakubu on 26 December 1967. He began his education in 1976 at Gwarangah Primary School in the then Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Upon graduation in 1982, he proceeded to the Bauchi Teachers’ College for his secondary education, and obtained a Grade II Teachers’ Certificate in 1987. In 1988, he went on to the University of Jos, Plateau State, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB Hons.) degree in 1992.

From 1992 to 1993, Dogara was a student at the Lagos campus of the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1993. He later obtained a Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.[1]

Dogara also attended a course on Managing and Leading Strategic Change in 2006, the Oxford University Course on Negotiation in 2013, and a course on Leadership in Crisis at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2014.

Professional career

He first took up employment in April 1988 as a teacher at the ATBU Staff School in Bauchi. In 1993, during the mandatory National Youth Service Corps, he served at NCCF, Akwa Ibom state. Upon completion of the NYSC programme in 1994, he went into private legal practice until 2005 when he was appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Transport.

He held this position until 2006, when he decided to contest to represent the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa constituency at the Federal House of Representatives. His bid proved successful and he has been a member of the House since 2007.

House of Representatives

Dogara has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2007. His legislative interests include tenancy, regulating monopolies, company law, and intellectual property.[2] He has sponsored many bills and undertaken several assignments, some of which are mentioned below;

Committee memberships

During the Sixth Assembly (2007 - 2011), Dogara chaired two House committees, namely the House Committee on Customs and Excise, and the House Services Committee. During this period, he was also a member of the House committees on Judiciary, Capital Markets and Institutions, Foreign Affairs, Rural Development and Power, among others.

During the Seventh Assembly (2011-2015), he served as Chairman of the committee on House Services and Welfare, and as a member of others including Judiciary, Land Transport, Labour, Employment and Productivity, Steel Development, and Legislative Budget and Research.[3]

House activities and assignments

Dogara has also served on panels and adhoc committees in the following capacities;[4]

Bills sponsored

In 2010, Dogara sponsored the Corporate Manslaughter[5] and the Data Protection Bill. These were followed by Federal Competition Commission Bill in 2011.

In 2013, he sponsored a bill for an act to amend section 143 of the Nigerian Constitution in order to make the process of removal of the President and the Vice President (on charges of misconduct) less ambiguous.[6] In the same year, he also sponsored bills on Public Interest Disclosure,[7] and Hire Purchase.[8]

In the Eighth Assembly, i.e. the current disposition, Dogara has sponsored bills which include the North-East Development Commission Establishment Bill 2015,[9] the Subsidiary Legislation Bill 2015,[10] the Federal Competition Bill 2015, the Data Protection Bill 2015,[11] the Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2015[12] and the Hire Purchase Bill 2015.[13]

Motions Sponsored

Dogara has sponsored many motions throughout the duration of his legislative career, some of which bordered on;

Speakership

Dogara was elected Speaker on June 9, 2015, after a keenly contested election. Upon winning the contest, he introduced a legislative agenda for the Eighth House which would serve as its guiding document for a period of four years.

Dogara also constituted a committee which he charged with the duty of reviewing obsolete laws, with a view to repealing or amending the necessary laws in line with global best practices. Dogara has, on many occasions, spoken about the need to update Nigeria's laws in order to attract investments and provide jobs for the nation's millions of unemployed people. As a result of the work of the stated committee, the House of Representatives set a record in December 2015 when 130 bills passed first reading in one sitting. Following that first batch of bills, another 100 were introduced in one day in June 2016. As at June, 2016, after a year in office, the House had passed 85 bills through third reading; the highest in the history of Nigeria's National Assembly.

The Dogara-led House also introduced sectoral debates on the Nigerian economy, during which ministers placed in charge of different vital portfolios engaged members of the House of Representatives with a view to establishing the required legislative framework for economic stimulation and growth.[18]

Dogara has also been lauded for his ability to manage the affairs of the House effectively and for quelling the leadership crisis which engulfed the House of Representatives following his emergence as Speaker. In recognition of this, he was selected as leadership Newspaper's Politician of the Year in 2015.[19] On June 10, 2016, he was also presented with the Zik Prize in Leadership Award for Public Service.[20]

North-East Initiatives

Dogara is a strong advocate for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery of the North-East region of Nigeria, which has been ravaged by six years of insurgency. He made history as the first ever Speaker to step down from his seat to sponsor a motion when he raised a motion on the urgent need for rehabilitation, reconstruction, recovery and development of the North-East zone of Nigeria.[21]

He has also called on the international community to assist with rebuilding the region, and suggested convening a donor conference to achieve this. Dogara has also visited Internally Displaced Persons (IDP's) in camps across Nigeria, in Edo, Abuja, Adamawa and other states, and donated relief materials.[22][23][24]

Not Too Young To Run

Dogara is an active supporter of the Not Too Young To Run campaign, which aims to secure representation for Nigeria's youth in the political process by lowering the age of eligibility for elective offices. He first mentioned the need to consider this reduction in the next amendment process during a meeting with student leaders drawn from across Nigerian tertiary institutions.[25] After this, the Not Too Young to Run bill was sponsored by Tony Nwulu, a member of the House of Representatives, and the bill has since scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.[26][27]

Professional affiliations

Dogara is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Nigerian Institute of Management, the Chartered Institute of Mediators and Conciliators, the Cyber Bar Association and the Social Policy Association. He is also an associate member of the Institute of Environment Management and Assessment, and the World Jurist Association, among others.

He also serves as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Legal Adviser to FAcE-PAM, an NGO operating in Bauchi State.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Those Who Want to be Speaker". This Day Live. This Day Newspapers. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Official Webpage of Hon. Dogara Yakubu". Nigerian National Assembly.
  3. ↑ "Those Who Want to be Speaker". This Day Live. This Day Newspapers. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ameh, John. "Capital Market Probe: Old Problem, New Investigators". Punchng.com. The Punch Newspapers. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Corporate Manslaughter Bill will Check Companies' Deadly Sloppiness - Rep. Dogara". Daily Tust. Daily Trust. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ "House Seeks to Ease Impeachment of President, VP". This Day Live. This Day Newspapers. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  7. ↑ "House of Representatives Federal Republic of Nigeria Order Paper" (PDF). National Assembly. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ "House of Reps Order Paper Tuesday 4 June, 2013" (PDF). Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  9. ↑ "House of Representatives Order Paper". nassnig.org. Nigerian National Assembly. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Subsidiary Legislation (Regulation) Bill, 2015". Eyes on the Mandate. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Data Protection Bill 2015". Eye on the Mandate. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Public Interest Disclosure Bill, 2015". Eyes on the Mandate. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "House of Representatives Order Paper". nassnig.org. Nigerian National Assembly. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "Reps Probe Concession of Ports". The Nigerian Voice. NBF News. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ "N276B: House Begins Probe of All FG's Import Waivers, Concessions". The Nigerian Voice. thewillnigeria.com. November 24, 2011.
  16. ↑ Ndiribe, Okey (June 28, 2013). "Reps urge CBN to Implement Cashless Policy in Phases". Vanguard.
  17. ↑ Nzeshi, Onwuka. "House Moves to Override Jonathan's Veto on Bills". This Day Live. This Day. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  18. ↑ "#NASSReportCard: 600 Bills, 600 Motions in One Year, the Dogara Score Card". Order Paper. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "LEADERSHIP Award, A Greater Confidence In Me – Dogara". Naija Twitter. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  20. ↑ "DOGARA'S ZIK PRIZE AWARD: REWARD FOR EXEMPLARY PUBLIC SERVICE". Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  21. ↑ Krishi, Abdullahi Musa. "8th House quest to re-build terrorism-hit North-East". Daily Trust. Media Trust Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  22. ↑ Krishi, Musa Abdullahi. "Dogara Visits IDP Camp, Donates Foodstuff". Daily Trust. Media trust Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  23. ↑ Krishi, Musa Abdullahi. "Dogara Weeps in Edo IDP Camp". Daily Trust. Media Trust Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  24. ↑ "Dogara Visits Adamawa IDP's, says: "Our Priority is to Return all IDP's Home"". Breaking Times. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  25. ↑ "Speaker, House of Representatives Holds Dialogue Session with Students of Nigerian Universities". National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigerian National Assembly. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  26. ↑ "SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPS, YAKUBU DOGARA, SHOWS SUPPORT FOR #NOTTOOYOUNGTORUN BILL". YIAGA. YIAGA. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  27. ↑ Natsa, Ruth Tene. "#NOTTOOYOUNGTORUN: WE MUST DEVELOP OUR YOUTHS FOR LEADERSHIP TO ENDURE – DOGARA". YIAGA. YIAGA. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
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