Barring last minutes changes, the House of Representatives will deliberate on a proposed legislation aimed at establishing state police.

This is as the lower legislative chamber is may enforce the acquisition of a degree as educational qualification for anybody aspiring to occupy political offices in the country.

The proposed legislation on state police entitled: “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 to Provide for Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters” has been slated for second reading on the order paper of the House before the week runs out.

The Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr Benjamin Okezie Kalu and
seventeen other lawmakers are behind the Bill billed to be subsequently referred to the House adhoc committee on the amendment of the constitution for legislative scrutiny.

Though details of the proposed legislation is yet to be made open by the office of the Deputy Speaker, the initiative is aimed at addressing the security challenges bedevilling the country.

Kalu who is the initiator of the Peace In the South East project (PISE-P) had during the inaugural meeting of the constitution review panel identified the Bill on the creation of state police alongside 39 other Bills that would preoccupy the attention of the 10th National Assembly.

“We are well aware of our present challenging circumstances
as a nation. The twin challenge of insecurity and economic difficulties could tamper with the the confidence of our citizens,” he said.

” It is therefore our Constitution responsibility to respond to the 40 bills so far proposed and also attend to the duty of Government to ensure the security and welfare of the citizen as provided by the Constitution.”

Rep Yeyeoba Onanuga, sponsor of the Bill for an Act to alter the 1999 constitution to change the educational qualification for election into political offices contended that his initiative will help Nigerians to sufficiently prepare for the humongous task of political leadership.
“As we have begun to see, the race for elective offices at both State and national levels have become increasingly competitive. While this is good as a tenet of universal suffrage, it can also be counterproductive if people who are not sufficiently prepared educationally, get into these elective offices,” he argued while leading debate on the floor of the House presided by Speaker Tajudeen Abass.

“All the political offices affected by this amendment are very strategic in their own right. The State legislators are important for making laws to govern the State in the interest of the people, the office of the Governor is the highest political office in the State. The Federal legislators are important for making laws in the interest of the nation, the Office of the President is the highest political office in the land.

“If a Managing Director who holds an equally strategic position in a company within this country, cannot be employed without a university degree or its equivalent, why should the above political offices be held by people without a university degree or its equivalent?

“We all know that after a university degree or its equivalent in this country, comes the compulsory National Youth Service Corp, without which it would be difficult to get into any employment especially within the Public Sector.

” Invariably, by leaving the qualification of this political offices to remain at School Certificate level, we are implying that the NYSC is not a requirement to hold political offices but it is a requirement to secure a job in the Public Sector.

“This Bill, will reflect the premium this 10th Assembly places on the quality of education that interests our youths vis-à-vis their desired political ambitions; and it will in turn affect the quality of candidates who run for elective offices in this country.

“Otherwise, how do we place value on education if I say to my son who wants to be a doctor that he needs a university degree or its equivalent to achieve his dream and then say to my daughter who wants to be a President someday that she only needs to have a School Certificate?

” I will like to conclude by stating that in this present day, studying up to a university degree anywhere in the world would have afforded any individual certain other knowledge, skills and preparedness that cannot be gotten at a School Certificate level.

“This is not say that only those with a University Degree can lead well, all we will be saying is that we will rather start from there; and I believe we can all agree that a university degree is a good place to benchmark the educational qualification into certain political offices.

“To agree otherwise will in the long run do our polity and youths a great disservice.

“The Bill therefore proposes to review upward to a minimum of University degree, the required educational qualification of some elective offices within the country.”