The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in collaboration with the University of Benin has conducted an orientation programme for new students of the 2022/2023 academic session postgraduate courses.
Speaking during the event, the Director General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Suleiman congratulated the new students and said the orientation course was necessary for them to familiarize themselves with the learning environment and how to make use of the resources in the institute.
He explained that NILDS was established by an Act of parliament to serve as an institute for the sustenance of effective legislature across all levels in the country and beyond.
According to him, “ The postgraduate programmes offered by the Institute are the Masters in Legislative Studies (MLS), Masters in Elections and Party Politics (MEPP), Masters in Legislative Drafting (LLM), Masters in Parliamentary Administration (MPD), and the Postgraduate Diploma in Elections and Party Management (PGD).
“This session more than 100 students have been admitted into these programmes. The distribution of the new students by gender also shows improvement in female enrolment into the NILDS postgraduate programmes. In the PGD programme, for instance, females account for 57% and constitute 46% of new students in the LLM programme. This is commendable and would be improved upon.
“All your lectures hold at our facilities, here, in Abuja using resource persons drawn from our Institute and neighbouring universities. The lectures are structured to enable all students to participate fully mostly within the hours of 3 pm to 7 pm from Monday through Friday.
“In this regard, the Institute has ensured that your classrooms are well-lighted with AEDC power supply or through an alternative electricity supply source to enable you to attend your lectures within the starting hour.”
He advised the new students to make themselves available for classes at all times, adding that the institute placed a huge priority on students to attend classes which he said would be awarded marks.
“Upon your successful completion of the programme, you would be awarded your certificates by the University of Benin. The best students’ amongst you would also be recognized and offered awards. To ensure that all students have equal opportunity to excel, the Institute has invested in a number of resources.
“These resources include the NILDS Library, air-conditioned classrooms, internet access upon registration, resource persons which include our experienced staff & lecturers who are PhD holders and professors drawn from multidisciplinary backgrounds including Law, Economics, Politics science, and other courses from faculties such as social sciences, arts.
“Let me emphasize that the Institute does not tolerate indiscipline in any form. As students of our great institution, we are therefore confident that you will adhere to the rules and regulations contained in the student handbook.
“So far, the Institute has enrolled about 800 students and graduated about 500. I pray that you be among the students that we will be graduating in our next two convocation ceremonies,” he said.
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