LAST Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan appeared before a joint session of the National Assembly to present the 2011 budget estimates. It was the first time he would be doing that as president, having assumed the highest office in the land in May 2010. It was a significant event, not just for the nation, but also for the entire National Assembly.

At a corresponding period last year, the nation was on tenterhooks with no clear direction. The then President Umaru Yar’Adua was sick and had been moved to a Saudi hospital for medical attention. The budget 2010 presentation was marred by the uncertainty that surrounded Yar’Adua’s personal health. In order to hide the severity of Yar’Adua’s medical situation from Nigerians, the Senate and the House of Representatives went into a prolonged and somewhat concocted division which created the indication that the budget could not be presented.Senators said then that there was no law mandating the president to read a budget address to the joint session of the Assembly. In another breath, the senators asked members of the House to come over to the Red Chamber for the joint session.

In a retaliatory mood, the House of Representatives insisted that tradition and convention must be followed in the budget presentation process. They said that the House of Representatives had always provided the venue for the budget presentation in view of the available space in its chamber.At the end of the day, it became obvious to Nigerians that the apparently contrived imbroglio was aimed at preparing a soft landing for President Yar’Adua.

It was agreed that in following the dictates of the 1999 Constitution, a presidential aide can be assigned to lay the budget estimates on the table of each chambers of the Assembly. Since the beginning of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s era in May, the National Assembly appeared to have regained its camaraderie. A number of joint sessions had been held at the House of Representatives wing without a whimper from the Senators. In fact, Senate President David Mark recently declared open the joint sitting on constitution amendment at the House of Representatives.

Thus the sitting arrangement of last Wednesday, which defeated the so called parity cry between the two chambers, did not come as a surprise. Many were delighted to once again see a return of the camaraderie and cooperative performance between the two chambers as displayed during the joint session.Having resolved the unnecessary distractions that hindered their collective performance, the senators need to realise that the fear of Nigerians that budgets are fast becoming an elitist affair is still real.

Government, over the years, had propounded theories and policies that are supposed to be encapsulated in the budget. The government at the centre had, in the past, talked about deliverables which formed the fulcrum of the budgets, but citizens had been appalled that at the end of financial years; the government only returned with more rather than results of deliverables.This is the challenge before the two chambers of the Assembly as the process of 2011 budget passage is kickstarted.

President Jonathan has indicated the desire of his government to, through the 2011 budget, activate the employment market such that jobs would be available to millions of Nigerians who are out there, jobless. The president has also enumerated his intention to place the country on a sound footing of development.The ball now is in the courts of the senators to make sure that the dreams, as captured in the budget book, are realised.

The lawmakers need to ask the real questions from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government that will implement the budget. They need to ask for clear step by step movement on how the policies will be realised. It should be clear to all senators and members of the National Assembly that without taking their oversight functions serious, the nation cannot move forward, the effect of which will also bounce back on them all.

The Senate should make a bold statement with the passage process of the 2011 budget and ring it loud to the MDAs that the era of business as usual is really over.