For Hope Uzodinma, a Harvest of Awards
When Senator Hope Uzodinma mounts the podium to receive his award from the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), it could be the umpteenth time that his is being honoured this year. He will be receiving his award at the same time as other notable Nigerians/entities among whom are Guardian Newspapers as the best human rights newspaper of the decade (2007-2017), The Guardian Reporter Olusegun Olaniyi as the human rights reporter of the decade, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, Senator Osita Izunaso, national organising secretary of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC) and Founder of pace-setting humanitarian outfit, Kpakando Foundation and Senator Samuel Anyanwu’ HURIWA commended Senator Uzodinma for galvanizing resources and talents to stop revenue blockages through the oversight duties of his committee on customs which so far have yielded billions of Naira back to National treasury.
Incidentally, the activities of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs had rankled not a few interests and stakeholders in the maritime sector given what the committee had described as clear financial hemorrhage being abated by those whose duty it was to stop the rot. But Uzodinma and his committee won’t bulge, insisting that the country needed all the funds it could legitimately generate to fund acute revenue gaps and development. Besides, the Uzodinma-led committee saw the breach of extant governance rules as a clear act of sabotage against the anti-corruption campaign hence his insistence that all such funds must be recovered. Today, the country is the better for it.
Going back in time, Uzodinma as chairman of the Senate Committee on aviation insisted on sanitizing the sector. This brought him into a collision course with both local and foreign airlines as well as aviation industry regulators on shortchanging of passengers as well as safety issues. On safety, time was when aircraft were simply dropping out of the skies like overripe pawpaw, causing untold anguish to families who lost loved ones and friends. Besides, at the same time, the executive branch had seemed to look the other way even as foreign airlines ripped off Nigerian travellers through exorbitant fares that they couldn’t charge in nearby Ghana. The celebrated public hearings that put the issues on the front burner of national discourse cannot be forgotten too soon.
The federal government swung into action, regulatory authorities sat up, passengers became emboldened and before long, sanity started returning to the sector. Of course, it is not only HURIWA that has recognised Uzodinma’s courage, patriotism and focus. Only October, the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, named him Senator of the Year 2017. That was indeed a great honour, something like the icing on the cake for a man whose colleagues from the south had just elected Chairman of Southern Senators’ Forum. Of course, he didn’t waste time taking them to Calabar at the end of November to organise the maiden summit of the revamped Southern Senators Forum. All eyes will be on him as the PDP goes to its convention on December 9, 2017.
