The President of the Senate Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki has promised that the National Assembly will focus on passing all pending bills that affect youths, the economy and will create jobs.
Speaking during an interactive session with Nigerian Cohort of Obama Foundation Leaders Program, Saraki said that he would engage with the House of Representatives to pass the Sexual Harassment Bill as well as the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill.
In a series of tweets on his twitter handles: @BukolaSaraki and @SPNigeria, Saraki disclosed that he met with emerging leaders from all sectors; economy, including education, entertainment, finance, new media, renewable energy, entrepreneurs and the health sector.
The Meeting was attended by several young business owners and policy advocates, who discussed the bottlenecks involved in youth advocacy.
The attendees spoke about sector peculiar issues. From poor education curriculum to the ease of doing business, access to credit, Poor infrastructure, Nollywood grant, bottlenecks in exportation and high tariff for renewable energy
They discussed possible solutions to the peculiar problems in their sectors and implored the Senate President to follow up on the recommendations.
On Education, Mr Femi Taiwo the Executive director of LEAP Africa discussed the importance of changing the school curriculum and improving access to e-learning. He discussed the possibility of the NUC recognizing e-learning initiatives much more and to improve teacher training.
The Young leaders advised that the multiple agencies in charge of exportation be collapsed into one that can supervise and ensure transparency to reduce the bureaucracy involved.
Mr Ebuka Obi Uchendu of Multichoice Africa, Ms Oluyemi Ayeni, the founder of Pearl recycling, Mr Moses Enoleka, the CEO of Sonicare and a host of other emerging leaders in business were in attendance at the interactive session.
Ms Oluwaseun Ayodeji, the Executive director of the Stand to End Rape started the session by talking about sexual harassment in the workplace and society, she advocated for quick passage of the Sexual harassment bill in the Senate.
Dr. Saraki engaged the young leaders about the importance of creating opportunities by bridging the gap between the private sector and governance.
He wrote on his twitter handles: “I had a great time discussing new ways of making progress in our economy over breakfast with the Nigerian cohort of the Obama Foundation Leaders Program.
“We had an interesting session exploring innovative ways to tackle issues like ease of doing business, progressive leaderships at MDAs through oversight, and our education curriculum.
“It is always refreshing to meet with forward-thinking and vibrant minds who have fully committed themselves to influencing national policy and taking advantage of legislative actions to further their combined agenda.
“I am committed to follow-up with industry specific hearings to produce an action plan,” he said.
