…Says Sexual harassment Bill not targeted at lecturers
Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, has said that works on reviewing the 1999 Constitution would commence after the Sallah break.
Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, who heads the Senate Committee on Constitution Review said this, on Wednesday.
Sen. Omo-Agege made this assertion when two groups, Women Education Advocacy and Development Initiative (WEADI) and League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV), visited him, in Abuja.
He explained the committee would swing into action immediately after the Sallah break.
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The senator pointed out that rights of women and the girl-child would be protected in the exercise, adding the panel would take into account experiences from other African countries.
Said he, “Immediately after the Sallah, we are going to hit the ground running with constitution review exercise. And there are a lot of bills dealing with women rights advancement.
“We will take the Ugandan and Rwandan experiences into account to see how we can meet up with the agitation of our women in the constitution review exercise,” he stated.
He also insisted the Sexual Harassment Bill recently passed by the Senate is not targeted at lecturers but meant to flush out the few bad eggs tarnishing the image of their colleagues.
Sen. Omo-Agege regretted that few educators are soiling the image of their colleagues, describing many of them described as ‘decent’.
He commended the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, for providing leadership, while also applauding his colleagues for co-sponsoring the Bill.
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He continued, “This bill is not targeted at our lecturers in tertiary institutions. To the extent that it is targeted at anybody, it is targeted at the errant few, the few predators in their midst.
“And we have them everywhere. It is not only in the tertiary institutions.
“Majority of the lecturers, professors are good people. We know them, we went through the institutions. So we speak from experience.
“The majority of lecturers, professors in higher institutions are good and decent teachers whose sole objective is to impact knowledge so that we can have the enabling environment to prepare our leaders of tomorrow.”
He expressed optimism that given the level of overwhelming support from the Presidency, it would get presidential assent once it receives concurrence from the House of Representatives.