Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman, has revealed that no fewer than 500 students have earned postgraduate degrees since 2013.He made the revelation at the induction ceremony for students of NILDS-UNIBEN Post-Programme for 2022/2023 academic session in Abuja.
He said: “So far, the Institute has enrolled about 800 students and graduated about 500. I pray that you be among the students that we will be graduating in our next two convocation ceremonies.”
Represented by immediate past Director, Admin and Human Resources, NILDS, Dr. Kabir Ahmed, Sulaiman explained that the Institute’s postgraduate programme is in collaboration with the University of Benin and has the full accreditation of the National Universities Commission.
He said the aim of the induction was to familiarise the students with the learning environment to enable them make the most use of the resources in the Institute.
He added: “NILDS is one of the world’s premier academic and research institutions, established by an Act of Parliament to support the sustenance of dynamic and effective Legislature at the Federal, State, and Local government level in Nigeria, the ECOWAS sub-region, and the continent at large.
“The NILDS-UNIBEN postgraduate programme is, therefore, part of the overall framework of the Institute for deepening knowledge of the Legislature and democratic governance.
“The postgraduate programmes offered by the Institute are the Masters in Legislative Studies (MLS), Masters in Elections and Party Politics (MEPP), Masters in Legislative Drafting (LLM), Masters in Parliamentary Administration (MPD), and the Postgraduate Diploma in Elections and Party Management (PGD).”
He said the 2022/2023 session has more than 100 students that have been admitted into the various programmes.
The DG further said the distribution of the new students by gender also shows improvement in female enrollment into the NILDS postgraduate programmes.
“In the PGD programme, for instance, females account for 57% and constitute 46% of new students in the LLM programme. This is commendable and would be improved upon,” he said.
He informed that the institute has launched its Democracy Radio 104.9 FM and the Legislative Centre for Security Analysis.
He said in addition to lectures and other resources in the library, students have the added advantage to listen to 24-hour non-stop broadcasts of programmes to enhance knowledge on a broad range of issues on the Legislature and national development.
“I, therefore, encourage all new students to tune in to NILDS Democracy Radio 104.9 FM often and to also follow all our social media handles as well as subscribe to our YouTube channels, to access documented materials that will enhance your understanding of the Institute and its programmes,” he said.
