News Post

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution that mandated its Committees on Tertiary Education and Services, and Federal Judiciary to summon the Council of Legal Education with a view to determining the reasons for the policy disapproving Law Graduates from National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The resolution was passed on during plenary session on Thursday, May 5, 2016 on the heel of a passionate call made to the Legal Education and the Body of Benchers to allow Law Graduates of NOUN enrollment into the Nigerian Law Schools by Hon. Ayodele Oladimeji .

While moving his motion, he informed the House that the Council's policy that Law should no longer be studied on part-time basis despite the fact that many notable lawyers in Nigeria who studied Law on part-time or through correspondence are exceedingly well in practice. Moreover, that enforcement of the policy would deny Law graduates of NOUN admissions into the Law school. The lawmaker noted that National Open University is a Federal Open and Distance Learning Institution, the first of its kind in West African Sub-region and also Nigeria's largest Tertiary Institution in terms of student’s intake.

Hon. Oladimeji further made case for NOUN stating that the institution offers Law as one of its courses and met the requirements for accreditation of a Law faculty.

In another development, the House continued its sectorial debate on diversification of the economy. It was the turn of the Hon. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechuckwu Enelemah to brief the Chamber on the Federal Government's plan through the Ministry to diversify the economic circumstances of the nation. He started by painting picture of the state of the nation's economy having a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of greater than USD500million. He further said that Nigeria has been an Oil dependent economy and the fall in global Oil prize has left its effects on the nation's economy, also noting that in the time being, foreign direct investment is on the average of USD200billion per quarter and agriculture accounting for small proportion of our export index.

Enelemah said the Ministry plans to take advantage of agro- economy, solid minerals and mines, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) through four systematic approach, these according to him include;

1. Creating an enabling environment for trade and investment. On this he stated that the Ministry has engaged various State Governments to remove obstacles in the way of doing businesses in Nigeria.

2. Industrial revolution plan that involves provision of soft infrastructure and revamping the manufacturing sector; also, the ministry has identified select sectors to promote better policies to create jobs. He said they are Collaborating with agencies like SMEDAN to roll out programs that are implementable using micro- financing and reduced interest rates to encourage local investors especially those operating the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

3. Proactively engaging in long term foreign investments.  On this approach the Minister informed that there has been a lot of inter-Ministerial efforts to put the necessary apparatus such as Power, Security, and other infrastructures in place including partnering with foreign and local investors to achieve a win-win economic goal.

4. Legislative intervention. He appealed to the members of the National Assembly to fast track passage of the 'Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill, said it will help SMEs thrive. He mentioned submitting to the legislature Bills on some areas that would require speedy legislations.

To wrap up the session, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara tasked the Minister on bankable policy in specific terms that would uplift the SMEs, noting that "the joy of democracy is seeing the government depend on the people; where the people depend on the government, they make slave of them", he admonished.