Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, has urged policymakers to prioritise gender parity across the country as a catalyst for accelerated national development.
Suleiman made the call on Friday in Abuja during the closing ceremony of the fifth NILDS Internship Programme on Legislative Drafting and the inauguration of the sixth batch.
Commending the performance of the outgoing interns, he said the fifth batch comprised “very brilliant and exceptional” participants, noting that many recorded ties in their final scores.
According to him, four ladies — Adesanwo Oluwaseun, Rufai Maryam, Alfa Talatu, and Oluwatoyin Ihinmikalu — emerged first runners-up with a total score of 87 points each, while Mr. Titus Bulus clinched the overall best graduating intern position with 88 points.
“Our girl-child should be given more placement in our society; all these ladies graduated from the university with either first class or second class upper honours. We are proud of them. If I have my way, I will not go by 35 per cent affirmative action but by 50 per cent,” he said.
“We in power and positions of authority should think deeply on how to ensure gender parity in our country. There is nothing a male child can do and a female child cannot do,” Suleiman added.
In an interview, Bulus described the programme as a “dream come true,” saying it had been his long-time ambition to pursue a career in legislative drafting.
“I found this platform, I made myself available and today, it is a game-changing moment for me; I have been deeply impacted on legislative practices and procedures. I am super excited. We are all best winners; however, one person had to be chosen at the end of the day and I am lucky to be chosen as the best. With the knowledge acquired here, Nigerians should expect robust legislations that will impact the lives of all citizens,” he said.
One of the first runners-up, Miss Oluwatoyin Ihimikalu, said the training exposed them to various aspects of legislative work.
“We learned a lot about legislative drafting and the business of the legislature in general. Specific attention was given to drafting of international treaties and penal codes as well as provisions to understanding how motions and committees work in the legislature. We the fifth batch of interns are very grateful to the director-general of the institute; we hope to put into practice all we have learned at this training,” she said.
Earlier, the Coordinator of the programme, Dr. Shuaibu Danwanka, praised the director-general for sustaining the internship despite economic challenges and budgetary constraints.
He noted that Suleiman’s commitment to bridging the manpower gap in legislative drafting was “not only commendable but also transformative” for Nigeria’s legislative sector.
