Politics
Senate Rejects Bill Proposing Skirts For Female Corps Members
The Senate last Wednesday rejected a bill proposing the option of wearing of skirts by female members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
This followed the presentation of the lead debate on the general principles of the bill which was sponsored by Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP-Taraba) during plenary.
According to him, the bill is intended to amend Sections 13 and 16 of the Principal Act.
He said the bill sought to ensure that regulations made by the NYSC Directorate prescribing uniforms and exercise regimen did not violate the religious practices and beliefs of corps members.
He said the objective of the bill was to also increase the penalty for the offences contained in the Act, to make such fines reflect the present value of the naira.
Bwacha, who is Deputy Minority Leader, noted that the NYSC was a laudable scheme established in 1973 by the then military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
“It was part of the effort by the Federal Government to rebuild, reconstruct and reconcile Nigerians following the unfortunate incidents of the civil war which ended in 1970.
“It is important to point out that while the scheme has lived up to expectation as a reliable platform for nurturing young patriotic Nigerians, fostering unity and promoting a better understanding of our religious and cultural differences, it has, however, become necessary to amend the Principal Act.
“This is with a view to address observed lapses and shortcomings. One of such lapses is that the penalty for offences contained in the Act is now outdated and in need of urgent review.
“Secondly, Section 16 of the Principal Act mandates the NYSC Directorate to make regulations or by-laws relating to discipline, exercise regimen, uniforms, welfare of corps etc.
“Uniforms and drills adopted by the Directorate have become a basis for tension and controversy between the Directorate and corps members and other members of the public.
“The major bone of contention is that some of the uniforms and drills contravene religious beliefs and practices of corps members and invariably their right to freedom of religion, thought and conscience under the Nigerian Constitution.
“This bill essentially addresses the above mentioned lapses in the Principal Act,” he said.
Contributing, Sen. Suleiman Adokwe (PDP-Nasarawa), said “the amendment being suggested is not even worth the trouble”.
“This is because the powers to prescribe uniform is what the NYSC Act is to the Directorate.
“I believe if the directorate wants to change the uniform at any time, it is a matter of deciding because it only has power to prescribe the type of uniform.
“The type of uniform is even not prescribed; so I don’t know why we should trouble ourselves; all you need to do is to put pressure on the directorate to change the uniform but not necessarily to change the law.
“All the religious organisations that are feeling oppressed by it should put pressure and lobby the directorate to change its dress code,” Adokwe said.
Similarly, Sen. Sam Egwu (PDP-Ebonyi) said “we should not waste our time on an issue that we have no constitutional right to amend. That is a minute issue that we should not waste our energy on.”
Also, Sen. Jeremiah Husseini (PDP-Plateau) “there is no need for this bill”.
In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the proceedings, said: “I am not trying to stop the bill; even if you pass the bill, you must send it to all the states in accordance with section 9(2).”
After a voice vote by Ekweremadu, the bill was rejected by the lawmakers.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has not registered any new political parties.
The commission gave the clarification in a statement on its X (formerly Twitter) handle last Wednesday.
It described the purported report circulated by some online social media platforms on the registration of two new political parties by INEC as fake.
“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a fake report making the rounds about the registration of two new political parties, namely “Independent Democrats (ID)” and “Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)”.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the commission has not yet registered any new party. The current number of registered political parties in Nigeria is 19 and nothing has been added,” it stated.
The commission recalled that both ID and PDM were registered as political parties in August 2013.
INEC further recalled that the two were deregistered in February 2020 in accordance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The commission, therefore, urged the public to disregard the said report.
President Bola Tinubu has asked Governor Hyacinth Alia to work more for peace and development of Benue State, saying he was elected to govern, not to bury people.
The President said this while addressing stakeholders at the Government House, Markudi, last Wednesday.
He also called on the governor to set up a peace committee to address some of the issues in the state.
The meeting included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, traditional rulers, and former governors of the state.
The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, and Nasarawa states also attended the meeting.
“Let us meet again in Abuja. Let’s fashion out a framework for lasting peace. I am ready to invest in that peace. I assure you, we will find peace. We will convert this tragedy into prosperity,” he said.
President Tinubu urged Governor Alia to allocate land for ranching and directed the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to follow up.
“I wanted to come here to commission projects, to reassure you of hope and prosperity, not to see gloomy faces. But peace is vital to development.
“The value of human life is greater than that of a cow. We were elected to govern, not to bury people”, he stressed.
He charged Governor Alia on working with the Federal Government to restore peace.
“Governor Alia, you were elected under the progressive banner to ensure peace, stability, and progress. You are not elected to bury people or comfort widows and orphans. We will work with you to achieve that peace. You must also work with us”, he said.
In his remarks, Governor Alia appealed to the Federal Government to establish a Special Intervention Fund for communities affected by repeated violent attacks across the state.
“Your Excellency, while we continue to mourn our losses and rebuild from the ashes of pain, we humbly urge the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in Benue State,” he said.
Governor Alia said the fund would support the rehabilitation of displaced persons, reconstruction of destroyed homes and infrastructure, and the restoration of livelihoods, especially for farmers.
He reiterated his support for establishing state police as a lasting solution to insecurity.
The governor pledged his administration’s full commitment to building a safe, stable, prosperous Benue State.
Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Benue State Traditional Rulers Council, Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, praised President Tinubu for being the first sitting President to personally visit victims in the hospital in the wake of such a tragedy.
He thanked the President for appointing notable Benue indigenes into key positions, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, while expressing hope that more appointments would follow.
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (ret’d), says the Aburi accord collapsed because Chukwuemeka Ojukwu wanted regional governors to control military zones.
Gen. Gowon was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1966 until 1975 when he was deposed in a bloodless coup while Ojukwu was military governor of the then Eastern Region in that span.
In a live television interview recently, Gen. Gowon narrated what transpired after the agreement was reached in Aburi, a town in Ghana.
The meeting that led to the accord took place from January 4 to 5, 1967, with delegates from both sides of the divide making inputs.
The goal was to resolve the political impasse threatening the country’s unity.
The point of the agreement was that each region should be responsible for its own affairs.
During the meeting, delegates arrived at certain resolutions on control and structure of the military. However, the exact agreement reached was the subject of controversy.
The failure of the Aburi accord culminated in Nigeria’s civil war, which lasted from July 6, 1967, to January 15, 1970.
Speaking on what transpired after the agreement, Gen. Gowon said the resolutions should have been discussed further and finalised.
The ex-military leader said he took ill after arriving in Nigeria from Aburi and that Ojukwu went on to make unauthorised statements about the accord.
Gen. Gowon said he did not know where Ojukwu got his version of the agreement from.
“We just went there (Aburi), as far as we were concerned, to meet as officers and then agree to get back home and resolve the problem at home. That was my understanding. But that was not his (Ojukwu) understanding,” he said.
Gen. Gowon said Ojukwu declined the invitation, citing safety concerns.
“I don’t know what accord he (Ojukwu) was reading because he came to the meeting with prepared papers of things he wanted. And, of course, we discussed them one by one, greed on some and disagreed on some.
“For example, to give one of the major issues, we said that the military would be zoned, but the control… He wanted those zones to be commanded by the governor.
“When you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor of the military in the north, the military zone in the east would be commanded by him. Of course, we did not agree with that one”, Gen. Gowon added.
Ojukwu died on November 26, 2011 at the age of 78.