By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, has been described as an essential institution for good governance in Africa
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis, who gave the description during a courtesy call on the NILDS office in Abuja, was accompanied on the visit by the Speaker of the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA), Hon. Joseph Ntakirutimana.
There, the ECOWAS Parliament and the East African Legislative Assembly, EALA, delegations resolved to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NILDS, on capacity building for African parliamentarians in a bid to advance democracy in Africa.
The MOU if signed will provide for the training of legislators and parliamentary staff in areas such as lawmaking, public policy, and conflict resolution and will help ensure that legislators are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively represent their constituents and make sound laws.
The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Tunis said that there should be a policy for ECOWAS member states to send their parliamentarians to the institute to build capacity.
He expressed joy that ECOWAS Parliament would align with NILDS as according to him, it was better to train parliamentarians and parliamentary staff at NILDS than The National Democratic Institute (NDI) in the United States.
The Director-General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, on his part, said the institute was established to train legislators and parliamentary staff.
According to Sulaiman, the mandate of the institute which is fully funded by the government of Nigeria but autonomous, has been expanded to provide support for political parties and civil society organiziations among others.