For Senator Emodi, it is a gradua tion from Joy of the Senate to Joy of the National Assembly (NASS) as she recently emerged the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters.

This is a highly sensitive position, being very central to not only executive-legislature relations, but also to the prosecution of Mr. President’s agenda in the NASS. A Special Adviser to Mr. President on NASS is expected to guide Mr. President on legislative due processes as well as track legislative developments at the NASS such as the people’s reactions to Mr. President’s bills and policy thrusts as expressed through their representatives at the national parliament.

The fact that the alleged failure of late Yar’Adua’s Adviser on NASS to get the President to write the NASS to enable his Vice act or (some say) his refusal to deliver Mr. President’s letter, virtually plunged the nation into anarchy in 2010 says so much about the potency of this office.

Thus, Emodi’s appointment is a very sound judgment by Mr. President, given her integrity, legislative experience and her good standing with the powers that be at the NASS. Above all, Emodi, with a track record of telling truth to power, is the type that would tell the President the exact feelings of the people, even at the risk of her job.

A seasoned educationist, lawyer, lawmaker, and grassroots politician, Emodi has the rare honour of being the first Igbo Woman to be elected a Senator. She was already about three years into her second tenure in 2010 when she was shocked out by the Court of Appeal in highly controversial circumstances of which subsequent developments in the judiciary and the forgery case slammed against Alphonsus Igbeke have vindicated her.

The Onitsha woman holds a B.Sc degree in Geography Education and LLB both from the University of Nigeria. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987 after earning her BL. Emodi holds two Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) degrees from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and the University of Abuja as well as Fellowships of Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic Unwana Afikpo and Federal Polytechnic, Auchi.

A former Executive Secretary, Anambra State Development Authority, Emodi’s passion to be an agent of change made her to venture into the murky waters of Nigerian Politics during Abacha’s Transition to Civil Rule programme. She won election into the 1994/95 National Constitutional Conference. She later assumed the highest political party offices ever to be attained by any female politician in Nigeria at the time as National Legal Adviser and Deputy National Chairman of the Congress for National Consensus (CNC).

Emodi has indeed cut her teeth in national service and has represented Nigeria at several fora such as the World Women Conference in Beijing China (1995) and the Third African-American Summit in Senegal (1995).She also led the National Assembly Study Mission to the US Congress in 2006 and was a member of the National Assembly Delegations to several International Organizations and Conferences including the 2008 Meeting of the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic; Commonwealth Parliamentary Association [CPA] Conference in London, UK; 115th Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union in Geneva Switzerland; 7th and 8th Workshops of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians at Wroxton College Oxford shire, UK; ECOWAS Parliament; ECOWAS Parliament Election Observer Mission to Sierra Leone [2007]; 2008 International Leaders Forum (ILF) and US Democratic Party National Convention in Denver, USA. She also led a delegation of the Senate Committee on Education on a Study Visit to the Cuban Parliament in April 2008.

Senator (Dr.) Joy Emodi’s charismatic leadership qualities were manifested in her effort at tackling the many problems that face the education sector through effective legislation and oversight during her tenure as Chairman of the Senate Education Committee. She sponsored some Bills and also helped to push through a number of policy reviews for the sector.

Hers was the first Private Member Bill to be passed by the 6th Senate in 2007. Professor Michael Omolewa, the former Permanent Delegate/Ambassador of Nigeria to UNESCO once described her as “radiating the passion and genuine commitment to pushing forward the education agenda for development.” UNESCO later recognized her as its Focal Person in Nigerian Parliament.

Senator Emodi’s performance in politics shows a visible departure from the era of political sloganeering by the degree of pragmatism and dynamism she brought to bear on her stewardship.  As a trustee and agent of change in Anambra, She has undertaken several humanitarian and charitable projects on her own and has also attracted several others from the Federal government.

These are in addition to her annual charity programme for orphans, disabled persons, widows and less privileged, etc. The USAID Mission Director to described her as “one of the most dynamic and influential women in Nigeria today” in an interactive session with former US First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush during her visit to Nigeria in 2006.