For over a decade now, starting from the year 2007, the man Bar Mohammed Tahir Monguno, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, has been representing the people of Marte/Monguno/Nganzai Federal Constituency of Borno State without any interruption.
Born on February 12, 1966, Monguno first cut his teeth as a lawyer, who knows his onions in all ramifications. He just marked 54 years on mother earth. And so far, he has made his modest contributions to the growth and development of the country through robust legislation.
Having studied law in the University of Maiduguri and graduated in 1989, Monguno went to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian Bar in the year 1990.
As a young lawyer at the time, Monguno wanted to contribute his quota to the development of his people. So, when the Babangida transition programme came up, Monguno seized the opportunity to contest for a seat in the House of Reps to represent his people. At the age of 26, he was elected as a member of the House. Today, he remains one of only two lawmakers elected in 1992 that are still in the House.
Before his second coming to the House in 2007, Monguno had served as the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Borno State for some years. Thus, his second coming to the House was with tremendous experience as a lawyer who was enormously qualified and prepared for the business of lawmaking.
MT, as he is fondly called by his friends and colleagues, Monguno has become a force to reckon with in the 6th, 7th, 8th and the current 9th Assembly.
Monguno was hitherto a member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) before it merged with other parties to form the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013. After the party formed government at the federal level in 2015, Monguno aspired to be the Speaker and later Deputy Speaker of the House with the current Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, aspiring for the coveted seat. They were to pair for the two seats.
However, the rest, they say, is history as MT could not make it. Even when he was nominated to be among the principal officers at the time after the inauguration of the 8th Assembly, he exercised patience when eventually he was not made one due to circumstances. That has shown his high level of maturity, humility and peace-loving nature.
What transpired at the time did not wane his spirit as Monguno went on to become one of the best lawmakers in the 8th Assembly in terms of quality of bills and motions sponsored, contributions on the floor of the House and punctuality at plenary.
Monguno is unrivalled in terms of commitment to legislative activities as he is one of the few members that never missed plenary sitting.
As a matter of fact, Monguno’s punctuality and contributions earned him special commendations from the then Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and the then Deputy Speaker, Yussuf Suleiman Lasun, on November 2, 2017, much to the admiration of other members.
On that day, Dogara said: “I must say that Hon. MT Monguno is versatile and always present on the floor. He can at any time act as Leader, Deputy Leader and Chairman Rules and Business. I think this is commendable.”
On his part, Lasun noted that Monguno was present at all sittings where reports were being considered at the Committee of Whole, saying “I think he should be commended for that, Mr Speaker.”
That spirit has been with Monguno ever since, and he continued with the same attitude towards legislation in the 9th Assembly.
Monguno once again wanted to aspire for the position of Speaker last year, but the decision of the party to endorse Gbajabiamila for the seat made him to respect the action and declared support for the current Speaker. He was the first to do that among all the contenders at the time.
Monguno was eventually picked as the Chief Whip of the House by his party with the wide acceptance of his colleagues in the House. As Chief Whip, Monguno maintains law and order on the floor of the House, an assignment he has been doing diligently to the satisfaction of all.
One would have thought that having been made the Chief Whip, MT would concentrate more on that assignment and reduce his participation on debates on the floor of the House. But being a superb lawmaker, Monguno has since upped his performance.
So far, he has sponsored over 30 bills in just about eight months since the inauguration of the 9th House. Not only that, Monguno, it was, who sponsored two of the most critical motions in the life of the current 9th Assembly in addition to his many contributions to debates.
In the area of sponsoring bills, Monguno’s strides are second to none as he said his decision to have as many qualitative bills as possible to his name was to impact positively on the lives of his constituents and other Nigerians.
He said: “Coming from an area bedevilled by myriad of security and developmental challenges, I am duty bound to present bills that will bring succour to my people and other Nigerians.
“All the bills I personally sponsored or co-sponsored with my colleagues are quality, well-thought out proposals, which, when passed into law, will help in bringing the needed legal frameworks for the development of the country.”
Not only that, Monguno visits his constituents frequently and makes his impact in their lives through different ways in view of the challenges they face.
Notable among the bills he has so far sponsored are: the bill for the separation of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice; the bill for the establishment of an agency to regulate the proliferation of small arms and the onshore/offshore production sharing, among other important bills.
Besides, Monguno’s resolve was because he was moved by the current socioeconomic challenges facing the country, which required a review of most of the country’s laws to take care of the realities on ground.
“I assure that with the way the 9th Assembly is focusing on making laws, Nigerians will have legislation that will be geared towards realising the dreams of having a country with progressive ideals to ensure overall development,” he said.
Monguno’s contributions to Nigerian legislature are indeed worth celebrating as he clocks 54 on earth.
Ma’aji wrote this piece from Maiduguri, Borno State.
