One of the lasting legacies of colonial rule in West Africa is the convention whereby rulers deny the governed access to information. To sustain that strategy of remaining unaccountable to the people, the British, in particular, effectively gagged the media.

When I first heard the news of the arrest of Dimeji Bankole, immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), I had the feeling that it was only for a chat that would last some minutes. My mind went back to 1993 when as Director of Public Affairs at the defunct National Electoral Commission; I was invited for a chat by the State Security Service (SSS) in the heat of the controversial June 12 Presidential election.

An ardent follower of activities of the legislature at State level in Nigeria would not find it difficult to establish the true character of its members. Events since the return of democracy in 1999 have shown that a typical member of a State House of Assembly operates essentially as a dubious person. In this article, we shall concentrate on three areas. The first is the legislator as a Tout.

A fortnight ago, one of my previously cherished neighbours, Professor Sam Ajayi, a pharmacist, shouted across the fence to salute me, but his rather good gesture ended in a fiasco as we both swore never to relate again. The bone of contention was his caustic remarks about some of my colleagues in the media whom he claims visit his Agency regularly to “beg him for money”.

Since the death of many Nigerians in the post-election riots of last month, the media have been replete with reports on the subject. The figures being published for those affected are quite disturbing.