The investments of Lagos State Government in the Children’s Parliament as a forum set up for acquiring leadership skills while being prepared for parliamentary duties have paid off.
This was the submission of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Dr. Olugbemiga Ayoola Aina in his welcome address at the sitting of the 6th Assembly of the Children’s Parliament held in Alausa.
The Permanent Secretary stated that the Lagos State Children’s Parliament has remained a model across Nigeria as it produced the first Senate President of the National Children’s Parliament in year 2008 in the person of Miss Marian Afolayan.
Noting that Afolayan was the first female ever to occupy the office, the Permanent Secretary revealed that the current Majority Leader of the 6th National Children’s Parliament, Toluwani Sule, is also from Lagos State.
Dr. Aina commended development agencies like Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Program (ROLAC) and Save the Children Organisation for their contributions towards children development in Lagos State and urged the young parliamentarians to maximise the opportunities made available to them for excellence.
In her remarks, representative of ROLAC Mrs. Ajibola Ijimakinwa enjoined the young parliamentarians at the Committee level to come up with recommendations that would be implemented to advance issues affecting them.
On her part, representative of Save the Children International Mrs. Folake Kuti advised the young legislators to widen the scope of their deliberations to cover issues that are really germane to their wellbeing, adding that the organisation will not relent in supporting MYSD in programmes that will better the lots of the children.
The Speaker of the 6th Assembly of the Children’s Parliament, Rt. Hon. Sherifat Umar presided over the sitting attended by forty-two parliamentarians representing all the constituencies in the State.
Major issues deliberated upon at the sitting were: Child Molestation, Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse and COVID-19 pandemic: A blessing in disguise.
After deliberations at the event, the Rt. Hon. Umar mandated some members of the House to forward their recommendations to the Ministries of Education, Youth and Social Development as well as Women and Poverty Alleviation for necessary action, just as nine committees were set up and saddled with the responsibilities of handling different issues affecting children in Lagos State.
