House Speaker, hon Deputy President, and hon members, after that fine sermon, I think I can just as well sing the grace. [Laughter.] One is not sure whether it is by mere coincidence or by desire that we meet on the 13th day of this month in the 2013th year of our Lord to bid one another goodbye.
This has been a year in which there was awakening from all angles of Parliament. We in the opposition, individually and collectively, have made our presence felt. We ensured that legislation that was repugnant to the public should not be passed with ease, to the extent that we were vindicated by the President on what we termed the Secrecy Bill when he returned it.
We also have to give the thumbs-up to the Presiding Officers, who have been masterly in presiding over the business of the House and running the institution. It is through them that the voice of the opposition was heard when colleagues on the right were obsessed with their majoritarianism. The Speaker put his foot down and said, "Let us hear different opinions in the three minutes they are allocated." And we are grateful.
Our only regret is that the plural voices of the opposition, as assisted by the Speaker, have since been smothered by reducing the representatives of these parties - the Rules Committee. We take this as only a temporary setback.
Our appreciation goes to all functionaries of Parliament. The Secretary and his staff have kept us abreast of developments, even those from other instances who required information about even our political access. We have seen facilities being improved considerably through the available resources.
We owe it to the National Assembly staff and their administration. They kept us up to date with all we required; notes among us have been delivered promptly. Sometimes, while sitting there, I would see the exercise reminding me of what we used to do when we were at school - when we sent similar letters from one end of the classroom to the other. I can see even at this stage that it still goes on that way.
This was a splendid year and we look forward to more sweat as we would be going campaigning. May we depart from this place in peace. Our plea is that as we go out, may our herd boys and girls not fight in the grazing fields. They should agree to differ.
Adieu, adieu. Fare thee well. [Applause.]