By Toby Prince
In the very phrases of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
This identical view was echoed by Malcolm X, who asserted that “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
While these quotes seize the essence of training as a device for private development, societal change, and empowerment, they maybe knowledgeable Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s drive in the direction of leveraging legislative illustration as a viable device for societal reconfiguration and academic reformation.
Today, the details, as they are saying, converse for themselves.
Indeed, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila is not any stranger to lawmaking. He has been making optimistic influence and driving nationwide growth for a number of years via efficient laws.
Fundamentally, Chief Femi has been instrumental within the sponsorship of quite a few and wide-ranging Bills, with many already handed into legislation. During the ninth Assembly, as an astute and patriotic legislator, he sponsored plenty of people-oriented Bills inside his first yr.
Notable amongst these Bills have been the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill 2020 (Quarantine Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2020), and the Nigeria Local Content Development and Enforcement Bill, 2020.
Instrumentally, he additionally sponsored plenty of Constitution alteration Bills, such because the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Physically-Challenged (Empowerment) Bill 2019, and the Presidential (Transition) Bill 2019.
Others embrace the Labour Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Employees (Unpaid Wages Prohibition) Bill 2019, and the Federal Highways Act (Amendment) Bill 2019.
Although it didn’t see the sunshine of day on the time, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila in 2016 first launched what is called the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill, later including security-focused laws such because the Armed Forces Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Police Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
Very few Nigerians, particularly these exterior sure circles, are conscious that Rt. Hon. Femi was instrumental within the institution of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps via his sponsorship of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Act (Amendment) Bills 2021.
An ardent anti-corruption fighter, he launched the EFCC Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, the ICPC Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, together with the Customs and Excise Management Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, the ECOWAS Small Arms Convention (Ratification and Enforcement) Bill 2021, and the National Security Agencies Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
A dedicated social justice and safety advocate, he pushed for the empowerment and reinvigoration of the Armed Forces via the Armed Forces of Nigeria Trust Fund Bill 2021.
Irked by the funding deficit within the agricultural worth chain, Rt. Hon. Femi sponsored the National Agricultural Development Fund Bill 2021.
An goal patriot, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila sponsored the South West, North Central, North West, and South East Development Commission Bills 2021. He was additionally the primary to design a technologically pushed archive and research centre for the National Assembly, via the institution of a National Assembly Library by sponsoring the National Assembly Library Trust Fund Bill 2021.
Rt. Hon. Femi’s various legislative inputs, with stable impacts, additionally embrace contributions to the reformation of the well being sector, sponsoring legislations such because the National Electronic Health Record System Bill, and powerful advocacy for the modification of the NAFDAC Act to incorporate provisions for a Nigeria Food Safety and Hygiene Surveillance Corps, in addition to an modification to the National Health Act of 2014—legal guidelines he believed have been out of date.
Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila’s legislative influence is made much more profound by his flagship sponsorship of the Student Loan Scheme.
The invoice, first launched in 2016 and signed into legislation in June 2023, created the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, providing interest-free loans to indigent college students in public tertiary establishments.
It covers tuition, textbooks, and different important charges, with compensation beginning two years after employment, thereby easing the {financial} burden on households throughout the nation. It has tremendously mitigated the difficulties confronted by each college students and fogeys within the pursuit of upper training within the nation.
Through the introduction of the Student Loan Fund, the pursuit of training has grow to be accessible and inclusive for all residents, with out discrimination of any sort and the elimination of socioeconomic boundaries.
Weaving an intricate tapestry of nationwide governance and influencing speedy catalytic social change, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, via a confluence of insightful and visionary management, has, by his initiative and resilience, eradicated the cruel {financial} circumstances that precariously remained a stumbling block to the pursuit of training by tens of millions of Nigerians.
He has additionally introduced enduring substantial leverage, solace, and a sustainable {financial} lifeline to tens of millions of households, resonating renewed hope.
His visionary reform initiative via the Students Loan Fund implicates all conversations surrounding all the instructional sector, altering narratives from ‘whether’ a baby ought to go to high school to ‘how’ the nation can persistently fund an all-inclusive larger training, making Rt. Hon.
