The member representing Ebonyi/Ohaukwu Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Mrs. Elizabeth Ogbaga, has expressed dissatisfaction over what she called low level of implementation of projects contained in the 2009 budget. She lamented that the House, after inspection of projects contained in this year’s budget, discovered that less than 50% of the budget was implemented, even when the year has
almost ended.
The lawmaker, in a statement at Abakaliki, blamed the situation on the executive, whose duty it was to implement the laws enacted by the National Assembly. Mrs. Ogbaga observered that such executive failure was not in the interest of the development of the country and called for more executive actions.
She also lamented the low level of participation in politics by women, stressing that if women were functionally empowered, they would be encouraged to participate actively in politics.
According to Ogbaga, “democracy is a game of number and if ideal democratic principles are observed during elections, women will win and occupy more seats, given the fact that they constitute greater percentage of the population.”
The lawmaker emphasized the need for free Medicare services for women and children, to tackle the problem of infant and maternal mortality, stating that if health care is not given adequate attention, it will negatively affect the nation’s population.
“The problem is becoming complicated because of the poverty rate especially among women together with lack of medical facilities particularly in the rural areas and we have to blame the political class for not doing enough in this regard,” said Ogbaga.
She also attributed the increasing cases of child labour and trafficking in the society to ignorance and poverty among most families which she said give out their children as house helps because they were not able to afford even a square meal daily.
To address the problem, the House of representative member emphasized the need for creation of jobs and improved infrastructure for the people. She sad that full implementation of child right acts would assist to tackle child abuse in the society.