Ekweremadu urges 8th Assembly lawmakers to be change agents

THE Deputy Senate President and Chairman National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) Governing Council, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has charged the 8th National Assembly senators and members to be agents of change in the next dispensation.

He urged them to make laws towards poverty reduction, conflict resolution, peace building and human capacity development.

Addressing the lawmakers, he charged them to use the experience of the past five days to enrich their contributions towards legislative practice and procedures.

“Given the quality of the topics presented at the Induction Certificate Course, I believe that the emerging legislators will be better equipped for the business of legislation. I urge you to take advantage of the holistic capacity building and training programmes of the National Institute for Legislative Studies to enhance effective and informed legislation.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman House Committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, charged the newly inducted legislators to adopt a renewed and vibrant communication strategy that will ensure a two-way communication that is in line with the 21st century communication realities and reflect the mood of the nation for a better Nigeria.

Similarly, Abike Dabiri-Erewa noted that since the substantial and critical business of the legislature are done at the committee levels, and the legislative institution being a transparent and open system, it behooves on the National Assembly as an institution, and respective parliamentarians to optimize the use of the social media platforms which is effective and cost efficient to carry their constituents along.

She emphasized that parliamentarian duties should account for about 70 per cent of media reportage, urging that Bills, Motions, Public Hearing and Committee activities should be promptly posted on the social media and websites in order to make it more interactive and responsive.

She called for the establishment of a state-of-the-art media centre and an e-library within the precinct of the National Assembly to enhance efficient dissemination of parliamentary proceedings.

She further advocated for the sustenance of public hearing as a means of promoting efficiency, transparency and public participation.

Commending the National Institute for Legislative Studies for its vision on training and capacity building, Abike Dabiri-Erewa noted that such regular seminars will continue to provide the right atmosphere for active engagement of all stakeholders and ultimately provide opportunities to correct the erroneous perception and misconceptions about such issues as the salaries of the legislature and the notion of constituency projects among others.

The five-day induction course witnessed several technical lectures on legislative practice and procedures from Nigerians with robust legislative experience who served as resource persons.

The course is in line with the mandate of the National Institute for Legislative Studies to conduct periodic short and refresher courses for national and state legislators, staff, committee secretaries and political aides, on democracy and good governance.