Prof Olanrewaju Suleiman, Director General of National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), an organ of the National Assembly on Tuesday underscored the need for the new leadership recruitment process in the country.
Prof Suleiman gave the charge in Abuja during the Zonal Quiz Competition on Legislature and Democracy for public and Registered Private Secondary Schools across in Abuja.
Prof Suleiman, a former Minister of National Planning, also unveiled the Institute’s plans to launch Internship programme for undergraduates of political science in selected Tertiary Institutions across the country, noted that the quiz competition will help in bridging the knowledge gap on Legislature.
He said: “This Institute was set up to bridge the knowledge vacuum in the legislature. What is leadership recruitment in this country? How do we elect leaders?
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“We don’t have to snatch ballot boxes and win illegally. We need to begin to examine how we recruit our leaders. One of the ways to do that is to train young students.
“We can survive as a nation if we can live peacefully. We can achieve that if we allow true democracy to thrive in our system. We must ensure that our younger ones are not used as thugs during elections. This quiz competition offers such a platform to teach the young ones.
“For a long time, we have had soldiers and military people as heads of government. That has affected our democratic and recruitment process in Nigeria.
“Next year, we will go beyond the FCT and bring six neighbouring states to join in this competition. We need to make it a national competition to teach our younger ones now things are done,” he noted.
The grand finale of the quiz competition will hold next Tuesday at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.
The quiz competition was part of the Institute’s efforts toward the provision of continued education on the Legislature, broaden the knowledge of students and the youths on the history, practices and processes of the Legislature.