By Sofiat Adenekan-Abdul
The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) says it’s awaiting regulatory assessment of its capacity to introduce four undergraduate degree programmes.
Director-General of the institute professor Abubakar Sulaiman, announced this in Abuja, at its 10th postgraduate convocation ceremony, held in affiliation with the University of Benin.
He explained that the proposed programmes are Strategic Communication and Official Reporting, Legislative and Policy Analysis, Elections and Democratic Studies, Legislative Studies and Administration.
Professor Sulaiman who said the courses would run for three years, subject to the necessary approvals, also disclosed plans to upgrade the institute into an autonomous specialised university focused on legislative and democratic studies.
“The proposal would expand NILDS’s capacity to provide specialised education and research in areas relevant to Nigeria’s democratic institutions, already NILDS had expanded its academic offerings, increased its pool of lecturers and researchers to more than 40”.
He emphasised that the institute had developed six online professional programmes covering legislative studies, legislative drafting, election and party politics, parliamentary management, parliamentary security management, and official reporting.
“Student enrolment, had also expanded beyond the National Assembly to include personnel from the military, paramilitary organisations, government ministries and agencies, as well as members of the public”.
The NILDS boss appreciated the institute’s governing council, staff and the University of Benin with supporting the development of its academic programmes and urged the graduating students to apply their knowledge in their workplaces, contribute to legislative practice and democratic governance.
On his part, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin(UniBEN), Professor Edoba Omoregie, SAN, commended NILDS in its effort at developing the skills needed to support legislative institutions and democratic governance.
Professor Omoregie also acknowledged the contribution of the institute’s leadership to its academic development and congratulated former University of Benin Vice-Chancellor, Professor Farki Osase Olwesi, who received a fellowship award from NILDS.
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, who represented the President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio, congratulated the institute’s leadership on its achievements and highlighted the importance of effective public institutions and continued efforts to improve governance.
For the graduating students, Bunmi Omoogun, from the Department of Legislative Studies, advised prospective students to work hard, follow institutional rules and stay informed about national affairs through newspapers, radio and television.
Also Olufemi Oyegoke, a postgraduate diploma student in Parliamentary Administration, said he hoped to apply his training to Nigeria’s democratic development and the administration of the National Assembly.
He described balancing work, family responsibilities and distance learning as challenging, but said determination and resilience helped him complete the programme.
A total of 123 students graduated from the postgraduate programmes
Edited by Julian Osamoto
