Austin Uganwa 
Nigeria Fourth Republic National Assembly 

Nigeria Fourth Republic National Assembly: Politics, Policies, Challenges and Media Perspectives provides profound but incisive insights into the first eight years (1999-2007) of the Fourth Republic National Assembly. The book critically appraises the eras of all the Senate Presidents and four Speakers, focusing essentially on their leadership dexterousness and the challenges, intrigues, brinkmanship, debilitating drama, power play and nights of long knives and consensus-building approach that characterized the two Chambers during the period under focus. Reflecting extensively on practical examples, images and cases, it underlines in the most graphic and digestible fashion the many blistering issues that perceptibly touched-off persistent face-offs that for long underscored the relationship between the executive arm of government and the National Assembly.

In eleven chapters and several distinct segments, the book establishes fundamentally the intrinsic partnership that should exist between the parliaments and the mass media in the promotion of democracy and nation-building. It puts in context and perspective the nexus between National Assembly and the media in the first eight years. The book identifies media strengths, gaps, failings and challenges in the coverage of the National Assembly, offering perspicaciously realistic suggestions on how to mitigate the challenges, in so doing, advancing media role in parliament.

The book is fundamentally enriched on parliamentary politics, engaging and lively; it is indeed the first authoritative book on Fourth Republic National Assembly.

Über den Autor

Austin Nnamdi Uganwa holds a Doctorate Degree in Media Arts obtained in 2007 from the University of Abuja. His area of specialization is development communication. He obtained his Masters Degree from the University of Ibadan and First Degree from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
He has had a long stint in the Fourth Republic National Assembly, occupying strategic positions. At inception in 1999, he covered National Assembly for Comet Newspaper and was elected by his professional colleagues as Chairman of the influential House of Representatives Press Corps. He was in 2003 appointed Special Adviser, Media Relations by Rt Hon. Austin Opara, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives (2003-2007). He later became consultant to some principal officers of the National Assembly and was re-appointed Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs in 2011 by Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Speaker, House (2011-2015)
Evidently, his lasting sojourn in National Assembly provided him a rare reservoir of knowledge to prolifically embark on this scholarly expedition. This is instructive of the stunning output which can only be achieved by a discernible insider like the author.
He started his career on the Features Desk of The Guardian headed by Mrs. Harriet Lawrence who turned out to be his professional mentor. When The Guardian was shut down by Gen. Sani Abacha, he joined The News and Tempo Magazines where he was later arrested by the agents of Abacha’s dictatorial regime and was incarcerated for three months in Alagbon Police base in Lagos which constituted the maximum detention camp for those opposed to Abacha’s Military’s regime.
Before his re-appointment in National Assembly, he was Coordinator of UNDP, CIDA, Federal Ministry of Environment and Henrich Boell’s funded National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action Project. He hails from Umugakwo Eziama, Ngor Okpala Local Council, Imo state, South East Nigeria.