…Deputy Speaker warns for disrupting Legislative process
…Deputy Leader absolves self as co-sponsor
Enwono-Abasi Elisha
It was described as a Legislative-goof by members of the public when the House considered the motion brought in by Member representing Etinan State Constituency, Hon. Uduak-Obong Ekpo-Ufot, Thursday, last week.
The motion entitled, “Urgent need to discourage lewd and inappropriate music content and advocate for the upholding of the Christian values that are endemic to Akwa Ibom State,” was said to have considered a matter not within the purview of the State Assembly.
According to the Deputy Leader of the House and Member representing Nsit Ubium State Constituency, Rt. Hon Otobong Bob, who was initially a co-sponsor of the motion but later declined, said that, concerning the constitutional provisions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there are other bodies assigned with the role of censoring musical contents. Also, the Constitution allows for freedom of expression.
On his part, the Deputy Speaker of the House and Member representing Itu State Constituency, Rt. Hon. KufreAbasi Edidem frowned at the manner the matter was sneaked into the order paper without due legislative consideration. He however warns the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Ethics to be more meticulous not to allow matters not approved by the Speaker to be registered in the order paper of a plenary day.
“The Chairman of Rules and Ethics, Hon. Prince Ukpong Akpabio should be seriously warned that no item should get to the order paper without the Speaker’s approval.”
While the mover of the motion, Uduak-Obong Ekpo-Ufot had the time on the floor to elaborate on the issue, said one of the reasons he was inspired to move the motion was when he visited the 2024 Christmas Unplugged celebration within Uyo, the capital city of Akwa Ibom State with his family. The Etinan Lawmaker said he was utterly embarrassed with the languages used by some music artistes at the event.
One of the popular songs mentioned by Ekpo-Ufot in his motion was ‘Nyansh Na Nyansh’ by Chella and Young Jonn, a Nigerian pidgin song that translates to ‘Bum is Bum’. This connotatively means that no matter the size of one’s bum, it is insignificant compared to its role.
He went further to list more songs with lewd content like the 2017 Patapaa ‘One-corner’ which swayed the public with unusual rhythm.
“It was on one of my visits here with my young family that I heard the song “Nyansh Na Nyansh” by Chella & Young Jonn. It was too late to cover my childrens’ ears as I listened to the lyrics of this recently released song.
“Most song lyrics do not discuss dangers of sexual activity, such as unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
“Instead, they often glorify promiscuity and not only do both songs contain lewd and explicit contents about nocturnal sexual activities, they arguably promote the glorification of women as sex slaves.
“Their lyrics and video contents provide disturbing images of promiscuity, sexual deprivation and negative exuberance.”
Ekpo-Ufot’s motion which stirred mixed reactions amongst Lawmakers and people at the public gallery, was stood down by the House as presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon Udeme Otong.
Also, another motion presented the same day by Hon. Uwem Peter Imo-Ita of Mkpat Enin State Constituency regarding the presentation of a single tax clearance for the processing of family land, was rejected as it was lacking in content. Speaker Otong advised that more work should be done on the motion to make it more comprehensive and adequate for time.
