By EricJames Ochigbo

Director-General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, has called on policy makers to ensure gender parity across the country for speedy development.

Sulaiman made the call on Friday in Abuja at the closing of the Fifth NILDS Internship Programme on Legislative Drafting and the commencement of the sixth batch.

He said that results showed that the batch 5 set contained very brilliant and exceptional interns, with so many ties in the score margin.

The director-general said that four ladies: Adesanwo Oluwaseun, Rufai Maryam, Alfa Talatu and Oluwatoyin Ihinmikalu, emerged first runners-up with a total score of 87 points each.

He named Mr Titus Bulus as the overall best graduating intern, with a total score of 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.

“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 that a female child cannot do,” he said.

The best graduating intern, in an interview with newsmen, said that they were all subjected to mind-blowing experiences in the last three months of the programme.

Bulus said that it was a dream come through for him, as he had always desired to pursue a career in legislative drafting.

“I found this platform, I made mysself 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.

Also speaking, one of the second runners-up, Miss Oluwatonyi Ihimikalu, said that they had learned a lot about legislative drafting and the business of the legislature in general.

Ihimikalu said that 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, commended the director-general for sustaining the programme in spite of the economic challenges and budgetary constraints facing the country.

Danwanka said that Abubakar’s dedication to bridging the manpower gap in legislative drafting was not only commendable but also transformative for Nigeria’s legislative sector. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Benson Ezugwu/’Wale Sadeeq