The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Monday, disclosed plans to sponsor a bill for the transformation of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, into a full-fledged specialised university for legislative and democratic studies.
Akpabio said the bill, when passed and assented to by President Bola Tinubu, will enable NILDS, which currently runs postgraduate programmes in affiliation with the University of Benin, to become a university serving Nigeria and the entire West African sub-region.
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, who represented the President of the Senate and Chairman of NILDS Governing Council, made the disclosure at the 10th Postgraduate Convocation Ceremony of NILDS-UNIBEN in Abuja, where 123 postgraduate students were graduated.
Describing the convocation as particularly significant, he said the 10th edition marks a milestone in the collaborative postgraduate programme between NILDS and UNIBEN and a celebration of excellence, especially for the graduating students.
He congratulated the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, on his achievements and leadership, and thanked the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, SAN, and his management team for sustaining the collaboration that made the programme a success.
The Deputy Senate President noted that the global economy remains largely unstable amid geopolitical tensions, volatile energy markets, rising costs and political conflicts, but the administration of President Tinubu has continued to pursue policies intended to place Nigeria on a path to greater prosperity.
He urged the graduands, as beneficiaries of the conducive learning environment created under the NILDS-UNIBEN collaboration, to reciprocate by contributing positively to national development and to apply their knowledge towards building a better Nigeria as elections approach.
“We must not allow those who would take the country backwards to undermine the progress we seek to achieve. Nigeria is our country, and we must invest in its overall good,” he said.
He assured that as members of the 10th Senate, they will continue to strengthen the legal framework governing public institutions and improve oversight responsibilities to ensure effective public service delivery.
He commended the introduction of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, for ensuring students can access financial support regardless of social or economic circumstances, and pledged that students of NILDS will benefit from government’s education funding initiatives.
He said he is one of those who support transforming NILDS into a specialised university, and that recognition and support by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, is encouraging and shows more is to come.
According to him, the quality of infrastructure and expertise accumulated at NILDS over the years makes a strong case for its upgrade, a proposal he has already discussed with the Director-General.
As First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, he said Nigeria hosts the headquarters of the ECOWAS Parliament and ECOWAS Commission, and a specialised university for legislative and democratic studies would strengthen Nigeria’s contribution to regional cooperation and integration.
“I therefore, informed the Director-General that I would sponsor a bill to facilitate the transformation of NILDS into a full-fledged university. With legislative processes completed, the bill can receive the President’s assent,” he said.
He however, clarified that the proposal does not mean NILDS should abandon its relationship with the University of Benin, which remains a foundational partner and should be sustained.
He urged graduands to understand that knowledge acquired is not merely another qualification to add to collection but a responsibility and a tool for nation-building, warning that if Nigeria fails, all share responsibility, but if it prospers, all benefit.
Earlier, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, who described the convocation as his last as DG, gave a breakdown of the 123 graduands to include 51 in Masters in Legislative Studies, 18 in Masters in Legislative Drafting, 7 in Masters in Elections and Party Politics, 20 in Postgraduate Diploma in Elections and Party Politics, and 5 in Postgraduate Diploma in Parliamentary Administration, among others.