As the curtain falls on his first and only term yet at the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly, the need for a retrospective view of his sojourn at the apex lawmaking institution of the federal republic of Nigeria. This was given the fact that some have been there prior to his arrival and many will yet go there to represent the people of Degema/Bonny federal constituency in the years to come. There was the need to examine the benchmarks set viz-a-viz the expectations of the constituents.

Randolph Iwo Oruene Brown, a financial expert turned politician took his activism demonstrated in his youthful days to the legislative house of Nigeria when he was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2016 to represent Degema/Bonny federal constituency in the House of Representatives. He had envisaged that his foray there should impact his constituents positively development-wise and governance-wise and thus set out to ensure that happened.

Aside embarking on aggressive networking, collaborations and lobbying, he also articulated the developmental needs of his constituents and fashioned the strategies to address them both on the floor of the Green Chambers and in league with ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) which would be the ultimate implementers of whatever development initiatives he was able to pull through via legislative approvals. These efforts paid off massively as demonstrated in the projects and other initiatives he pursued.

Brown’s performance narrative encompasses legislative functions, drive for constituency projects, and social interventions. Aside bills, motions, and oversight activities, he has made interventions in the education, health, and economic aspects of his constituency. These strides have positively impacted several lives across Degema and Bonny Local Government Areas and beyond.

One of such achievements was easing the funding challenge of the Bonny-Bodo road project owing to his pressure on the Federal Government to capture the project under its road trust fund that accords private firms a tax rebate in return for them to fund infrastructural projects in their areas of business. The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) can now provide 100 per cent funding for the N120 billion 38 kilometer project that would see Bonny connected to the mainland by 2021.

In the period he has been at the Green Chambers constructed and about to commission teachers’ quarters in Bakana and Tombia, the old consulate in Degema, all in Degema LGA. He also established an Education Support Scheme that has awarded scholarship to more than 50 students cutting across nursery, primary, and secondary schools; and over 45 students in various tertiary institutions across the country from Degema and Bonny LGAs and also distributed 15,000 text books and notebooks to various secondary schools in both LGAs.

He has also sponsored a free medical exercise in conjunction with OB Lulu Briggs Foundation that touched over 5,000 lives with over 150 surgical operations in Bonny Island; and procured hi-tech hospital equipment for the General Hospital, Bonny. His Medical Support Program in collaboration with health institutions in Bonny LGA, including St. Charles Hospital, Channels Clinic, St. Peter’s Clinic, and General Hospital, Bonny has impacted the lives of over a hundred individuals across his constituency, so far. 

He has also economically impacted the lives of his constituents through the Youth and Women Empowerment Program (YAWEP), a skills training program that has captured over 350 individuals (women and youths) cutting across various skills sets including Catering and Hospitality Management, Fashion and Designs, Shoe and Bag Making, Carpentry and Furniture Making, Driving, Beadmaking, Paint Production, Entrepreneurial Studies, Soap and Bleach Production, Cosmetology, Scaffolding, Videography and Photography, and Welding and Fabrication. 

As he takes a bow from the Green Chambers in deference to his party’s decision to distort the gentlemanly agreement between his Bonny and Degema LGAs to rotate the House of Representatives slot for the constituency, he leaves behind a legacy of legislative activism that has witnessed visible impact on development, governance and policy direction that has immensely benefitted his constituents.