Abuja: Director-General of the 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 at the closing of the Fifth NILDS Internship Programme on Legislative Drafting and the commencement of the sixth batch.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the director-general highlighted that the results showed an impressive performance from the batch 5 interns, with several ties in their score margins. Four female interns, Adesanwo Oluwaseun, Rufai Maryam, Alfa Talatu, and Oluwatoyin Ihinmikalu, emerged as first runners-up, each scoring 87 points. Mr Titus Bulus was named the overall best graduating intern, earning 88 points.
Prof. Suleiman emphasized the importance of giving more opportunities to the girl-child in society, noting that all the female interns graduated from university with first class or second class upper honours. He expressed his support for a 50 percent gender parity, rather than the current 35 percent affirmative action. “There is nothing a male child can do that a female child cannot do,” he stated.
In an interview, best graduating intern Titus Bulus shared his enthusiasm, describing the internship as a transformative experience that fueled his passion for legislative drafting. “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,” he said.
Second runner-up Miss Oluwatonyi Ihimikalu reflected on the extensive learning experience, covering legislative drafting, international treaties, and penal codes. She expressed gratitude to the director-general and hoped to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
Earlier, Dr Shuaibu Danwanka, the programme coordinator, praised the director-general for maintaining the programme despite economic challenges and budget constraints in the country.