Chairman of the National Assembly and Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan on Monday reiterated the 9th Assembly making the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) a unique regional asset and a premier Legislative Research Institute.
Senator Lawan who gave the assurance in Abuja, at the 8th Matriculation Ceremony of 123 Postgraduate Students of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS)/University of Benin (UNIBEN) Postgraduate Programmes, underscored the need for adequate provision of funds, infrastructure and capacity development.
“As Chairman of the Institute’s Governing Council, it is gratifying to note that, NILDS has diligently and indefatigably worked towards fulfilling its vision of becoming a top-tier research and training institution that promotes and supports the development of vibrant, effective and accountable legislatures and democratic institutions in Nigeria and beyond; thereby strengthen democracy, democratization and democratic ethics in the country.
“It is an incontrovertible fact that human capital is essential for boosting productivity, pivotal for economic growth and also germane with regard to the resilience of economies. A country’s human capital is largely built through the education system, which has important implications for both the individual and the entire society. At the individual level, getting educated and acquiring skills make people more productive; and the attendant optimal performance engenders the possibility of higher incomes.
“At the macro level, a well-educated labour force contributes to economic growth and advances the innovative capacity of a society which altogether assist in increasing the standard of living and welfare of the citizens.”
Senator Lawan who doubles as Chairman, NILDS Governing Council described education as the most important investment a country can make on its people and future, maintained that various challenges facing education such as limited funding, lack of infrastructure and teaching aids, poorly trained personnel and low levels of commitment, among several others adversely affected the productivity and output of our schools and centres of learning at all levels.
“Some of the consequences of the weakness in our education sector include a rising profile of criminal activities and anti-social behaviour, insecurity, high number of unemployable youths and an unproductive workforce.
“These have adversely affected the productivity and output of our schools and centres of learning at all levels. Some of the consequences of the weakness in our education sector include, rising profile of criminal activities and anti-social behavior, insecurity, high number of unemployable youths and an unproductive workforce.”
While applauding the partnership between NILDS and UNIBEN, observed that the relationship has been very cordial and has grown tremendously since 2013 which signifies the immense value, we, as a parliament, place on education and capacity development of the legislature.”
The Senate President who was represented by Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Degi Biobarakuwa who pledged continued support for educational development in the country said:
“In the previous Assembly, we worked assiduously to improve the quality of primary and secondary education, which have lagged behind due to lack of adequate investment in the educational sector. It is imperative to underscore the fact that, in the Senate, we amended the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act to ensure that the 2% budgetary allocation to Universal Basic Education Commission by the Federal Government was increased to 3%.
“However, a lot more remain to be done in order to ensure that all stakeholders at the state and federal levels do their part to strengthen the sector.
“In striving to achieve the goals, we have set for ourselves, targets in the legislative agenda; legislators depend on legislative staff and aides. In fact, the main potential resources for continuity and sustainable change in a legislature is the legislative bureaucracy. This means that a strong legislature needs highly professional and qualified staff that are dedicated to the parliamentary institution,” he said.
On his part, NILDS Director-General, Professor Olanrewaju Sulaiman observed that “competent technical legislative staff are essential to the effective functioning of the legislature and by extension in building a strong and virile bureaucracy.
“It is in realization of this need and in response to the manpower gap identified through a personnel audit instituted by the NASS Management that NILDS has been at the forefront of developing qualitative and targeted training and educational programmes that will address the skills gaps identified in all aspects of legislative operations.
“The programmes offered by the Institute are specialized and are guided by the belief that it is only by appropriate and effective education of the populace in democratic governance that genuine and functional democracies can emerge across the world. Your lecturers in these programmes are seasoned legislative experts, democrats and thorough bread academics. You are expected to graduate at record time as the programmes are not affected by any form of strike.
“The postgraduate programmes run by the institute have two broad objectives, the first is to equip legislators and legislative staff at all tiers of government with the knowledge and skills required from the improved performance of their various functions. The second objective is to provide opportunities for members of the public who are interested in the practice and procedure of the legislature and to familiarize themselves with the operating procedures of this branch of government,” Professor Sulaiman noted.
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