Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Suleiman, vacated his seat on Wednesday for the State Speaker of the Children’s Parliament, Destiny Simon James, to commemorate the 2024 World Children’s Day.
The Speaker vacated his seat when the representatives of the Bauchi State Children’s Parliament visited the Assembly to mark 2024 World Children’s Day and carry out legislative proceedings on child welfare.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office organised advocacy visits to the lawmakers and the wife of Governor Bala Mohammed to mark this year’s World Children’s Day.
The Children’s Parliament Speaker, Destiny Simon James, confidently sat on the official seat of the Speaker for a moment and presided over the Children’s Parliament to mark the day.
Speaking, the children asked the government to increase education funding, stressing that “beyond funding, we request that you keep monitoring for timely release of the allocation and judicious utilisation.”
They added that, “Due to poverty, many children do not have the opportunity to go to school; we count on your leadership to see how to abolish any kind of school charges at primary and secondary levels, while those in the senior secondary and tertiary level should be reduced minimally to enable children of the poor to have the opportunity to be in school.”
The kids, who were selected from different government schools across the state, also demanded free medical services at government hospitals for children under 15 years.
While responding, the Speaker, Abubakar Suleiman, said that the children’s demands were submitted to the appropriate place, pledging that the House will play its constitutional roles.
According to him, “On your demands, where it is necessary for us to make laws, we will do it; where it requires oversight and representation, we assure you that we will do that.”
The Speaker added that “we will ensure proper funding and, most importantly, timely release of the funds. On the abolition of school charges in primary and secondary and downward review of the same in higher institutions, we will look into that also.”
“On the need to provide free medical services to under 15 children, we will look into it; even if it requires us to back it with law, we will do that,” Abubakar Suleiman assured.
He then expressed the commitment of the 10th Assembly to address the obstacles facing children in the state by formulating child-friendly laws, child representation, and legislative oversight to ensure child rights.
The Speaker, who vacated his seat for the child speaker to present their demands, said that the House had last year domesticated the Child Rights Act and the Violence Against Person Prohibition (VAPP) law in Bauchi.
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