Monsurat Sunmonu

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Senator
Monsurat Sunmonu
Nigerian Senator for Oyo Central
In office
9 June 2015 – 9 June 2019
Preceded bySen. Ayoade Ademola Adeseun
Succeeded bySen. Teslim Folarin
Chairperson, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs
In office
9 June 2015 – 9 June 2019
Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly
In office
10 June 2011 – 8 June 2015
DeputyBabatunde D. Olaniyan
Preceded byMoroof O. Atilola
Succeeded byMichael A. Adeyemo
Member of the Oyo State House of Assembly
In office
10 June 2011 – 8 June 2015
Preceded byMoroof O. Atilola
Succeeded byMuideen Olagunju
ConstituencyOyo East & Oyo West
Deputy-Chair, Conference of Speakers of Nigeria
In office
7 May 2012 – 8 June 2015
Succeeded byMichael A. Adeyemo
Personal details
Born
Monsurat Olajumoke Sunmonu

(1959-04-09) 9 April 1959 (age 65)
Oyo, Western Region, British Nigeria
(now in Oyo State, Nigeria)
Political partyAfrican Democratic Congress (ADC)
OccupationPolitician
Known forPolitics, philanthropy, social activism
Websitewww.monsuratsunmonu.com

Monsurat Olajumoke Sunmonu[1] (born 9 April 1959) is a Nigerian politician who served as a senator representing Oyo Central senatorial District between 2015 and 2019. She represented Oyo Central Senatorial District, having won the election held on 28 March 2015.[2] She chaired the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Prior to becoming a senator, she was the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Nigeria. While in the House of Assembly, she was the member representing Oyo East and Oyo West Local Governments. She became the first female Speaker in the history of Oyo State on 10 June 2011.[3]

Early life[edit]

Monsurat Sunmonu was born on 9 April 1959, in Oyo State to Alhaji Akeeb Alagbe Sunmonu and Alhaja (Princess) Amudalat Jadesola Sunmonu (née Afonja) and is of royal descent in Oyo Kingdom.

Monsurat had her primary school education at Children's Boarding School, Oshogbo- now the capital of Osun State, Nigeria.

Monsurat attended the Ilora Baptist Grammar School, Ilora, Oyo State, for the early part of her secondary school education before transferring to Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo State.

Monsurat later attended the Kwara State College of Technology for her ‘A’ levels.

Monsurat had a brief stint in the Accounts Department of the Property Development Corporation of Oyo state (now Housing Corporation) in Bodija Ibadan, Oyo State before travelling to the UK in 1979.

UK[edit]

Sunmonu attended Holborn Law tutors for her LL.B. She then went on to the London School of Accountancy to undertake a course to qualify for the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. She later attended Lewisham College for her Business in Management Studies.

After completing her studies, she briefly worked at the National Westminster Bank (NatWest) before taking up employment with the Government of the United Kingdom. There she worked in the UK Border Agency (UKBA), where she worked for over 20 years.

While at the UKBA, Monsurat attended various managerial and executive courses and was one of the first Nigerians be given "higher security clearance" in the British Government.

Sunmonu climbed the ranks within the British Government, achieving a senior position, before departing in 2011 to contest for a seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly, she later because Speaker.

Oyo State House of Assembly[edit]

On 26 April 2011, Monsurat Sunmonu contested on the platform of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the Oyo East and Oyo West seat in the House of Assembly.

Securing a victory with 25,091 votes, she won the election, winning all 20 available Wards in her constituency surpassing the then People's Democratic Party (PDP) incumbent Moroof Atilola who scored 10,949 votes; Accord (Nigeria) (Accord) party candidate Muideen Olagunju with 10,636 votes and MPPP candidate Bimbo Aleshinloye 2,274 votes. Other candidates in the election were Saheed Adejare of the CPC who scored 756, Adetokunbo Ajayi of NCP scoring 297, Olaniran Abiodun of Labour Party with 46 and Awesu Tsaiwo of ANPP who scored 43 votes.

Monsurat Sunmonu was then nominated to be the Speaker of the House at its inauguration on 10 June 2011; she became the first female Speaker in the history of the Oyo State House of Assembly. The composition of the Oyo State House of Assembly on inauguration was 13 Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members, 12 People's Democratic Party (PDP) and 7 Accord (Nigeria) Party members.

Under Sunmonu's leadership the House of Assembly in totem considered 85 Bills in its 4-year tenure: with 8 Bills at 1st Reading stage, 16 Bills at 2nd Reading stage and 61 Bills passed into Law. The House passed both Executive and Private Member Bills to provide legal framework for Government business and activities. 387 Resolutions were also passed advising the Executive arm on policy.

Sunmonu is the first Speaker in Oyo State Assembly to use a full and uninterrupted term of government as Speaker. Sunmonu was honoured as one of the leading women in Nigeria.[4]

Autonomy[edit]

As Speaker, Sunmonu spearheaded the Oyo state House of Assembly to passing the Nigerian Constitutional amendment ensuring financial autonomy for State Houses of Assemblies and Local Governments. However, in Nigeria, Constitutional amendments require passage in 2/3 of Nigeria's 36 State Assemblies followed by Presidential assent. Although the amendments was passed in the required 2/3 of Nigeria's 36 State Assemblies, it did not receive the Presidential assent of President Goodluck Jonathan.[5]

Conference of Speakers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria[edit]

In May 2012, Sunmonu was elected as the Deputy Chair of the Conference of Speakers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a body comprising the 36 Speakers representing each State in the Federation [6]

She was the first Speaker in Oyo State history to sit on the executive council of the Conference of Speakers.

National Assembly[edit]

On 28 March 2015, Sunmonu contested the Oyo Central Senatorial District seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and secured victory with105,378 votes,[7] ahead of Luqman O. Ilaka of the Accord (Nigeria) (Accord) with 84,675 votes and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Sen. Ayo Adeseun with 44,045 votes. Other candidates in the election were Elijah Abiala of the Labour Party who scored 27,490, Caleb Oyelese of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) polling 7,362 and Olusegun Ogunyemi of the DPP who polled 1,343.

Sunmonu is the first female Senator to represent Oyo State in the Upper Chambers of the National Assembly.

On 24 July 2018, Sunmonu decamped from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC)

Compulsory Treatment Of Critical Condition Victims[edit]

On 15 November 2016, Sunmonu moved a Motion[8] during the Senate Plenary calling on the Federal Government to mandate public hospitals and medical institutions to treat accident and gunshot victims immediately and remove the bureaucracy of paperwork such as police reports and receipts of payment of medical expenses.[9] The Motion was passed and adopted as a Bill, which passed all readings in both the Senate and The House of Representatives and was passed concurrently on 11 July 2017.[10] The Bill was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2017.[11]

Women’s Rights[edit]

In the National Assembly, Sunmonu has been very vocal in her calls for equal rights for women in Nigeria.[12] She is noted for her support of the #GenderEqualityBill and has often called for cross-party cooperation to get the Bill passed.

Anti-Corruption[edit]

Sunmonu has attended conferences both inside and outside of Nigeria on the issue of corruption and how to tackle it.[13] In her capacity as Chair of the Senate committee on Foreign Affairs, she has spoken on how she believes that an important way to tackle corruption is by adopting a multilateral approach so that criminals cannot hide proceeds in foreign countries.[14]

Grazing Reserves[edit]

Sunmonu has lent her voice in opposition to the controversial #GrazingReserveBill.[15] Sunmonu is quoted in the press as saying that the Bill could adversely affect her constituents and, has argued that being a business, cattle-rearers should purchase land and not be allocated land for free by Government.[16]

Climate Change[edit]

Sunmonu is noted for her calls for Nigeria to reduce its carbon footprint and the need to turn to renewable sources of energy.[17] She was part of the delegation that attended the historic #COP21 in Paris, France, where for the first time countries signed a historic pact to reduce CO2 emissions before 2020.

Education[edit]

During the presentation of the 2016 Budget, Sunmonu charged the Federal Government to increase its spending in Technical Colleges. She argued against the culture of pushing all students to white collar academics, instead that adequate investment be made in technical colleges to open a new area of industry and help reduce unemployment. She also called for increased allocation to Technical Colleges within her Senatorial District.[18]

Infrastructure[edit]

Oyo-Ogbomosho Expressway

Sunmonu has been very vocal on the deterioration and non-completion of the Ibadan-Ilorin expressway, for which a contract was awarded in 1999. The road was split into 3 phases: Ibadan-Oyo, Oyo-Ogbomosho and Ogbomosho-Ilorin, with only the Oyo-Ogbomosho axis uncompleted. On 4 August 2015, Sunmonu was a co-sponsor of a motion moved by Sen. Dino Melaye on the deplorable condition of a number of Nigerian roads, of which Oyo-Ogbomosho was specifically mentioned.[19] She is reported to have met with the contractor and top government officials in an effort to ensure completion of the road.[20] The road was included in the 2016 National Budget with 6 Billion Naira budgeted towards resumption of work.[21] Sunmonu flagged off the resumption of work on 22 August 2016, about 1 year after moving the motion on the floor of the Senate[22] with Sen. Kabiru Gaya (Chairman, Senate Committee on Works) being quoted as saying that "Senator Sunmonu was on the neck of the Senate and the committee to ensure that the road is accommodated in the budget".[23] The resultant pressure caused the Executive to publicly commit to complete the road before the end of the Administration.[24]

Ibadan-Ife Expressway

Sunmonu visited the Adegbayi axis of the Ibadan-Ife Expressway where the road was badly damaged. She is reported to have immediately called the managing director of the company contracted to execute works and within 1 month, the area of the expressway was repaired.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Nation - Oyo elects first female Speaker". Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Full list of newly-elected Senate members of the National Assembly | News24 Nigeria". Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201106132371381[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Page title[usurped]
  6. ^ http://cssl.org.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=12[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Home | Western Post". 19 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Sunmonu Moves Senate to Ensure Critical Condition Victims Are Treated Immediately – Sen. (Rt. Hon.) Monsurat Sunmonu". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Why I sponsored bill on treatment of gunshot victims, by Senator". 26 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Senate Passes Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill – Sen. (Rt. Hon.) Monsurat Sunmonu". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Buhari Signs Mandatory Treatment of Gun Shot Victims' Bill into Law". 30 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Senator Laments Rejection of Gender Equality Bill, #GEOBill – Sen. (Rt. Hon.) Monsurat Sunmonu". Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Sunmonu seeks foreign support for fight against corruption | National Mirror". Archived from the original on 4 June 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Senator calls for multilateral approach to loot recovery". 11 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Why grazing reserve bill can't fly - Sunmonu". 5 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Cattle rearing is business, no free grazing land —Senator Sunmonu | Nigerian Tribune". Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Let's Save Our Future by Fighting Climate Change Now- Sunmonu – Sen. (Rt. Hon.) Monsurat Sunmonu". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  18. ^ "2016 Budget Debate: Sunmonu Calls for Increased Investment in Nigeria's Technical Colleges – Sen. (Rt. Hon.) Monsurat Sunmonu". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  19. ^ "EFL to support trial of reformed penalty kicks for 2017/18 season - MegaIcon Magazine". August 2017.
  20. ^ "How I Revived Oyo-Ogbomoso Road - Sen Sunmonu |". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  21. ^ "How Oyo/Ogbomoso road made budget, by Senator Sunmonu". 15 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Fed Govt resumes Oyo/Ogbomoso road project". 22 August 2016.
  23. ^ "FG Flags off N6bn Oyo/Ogbomoso Expressway". 22 August 2016.
  24. ^ Online, Tribune (22 August 2016). "FG kicks off N6bn Oyo/Ogbomoso Expressway construction •Sets 2019 completion date".
  25. ^ "Senator Sunmonu drags contractors to site after crash killed 5 people on Ibadan-Ife expressway". 19 October 2016.
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