A former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, on Tuesday told the National Assembly to enact a law that would prohibit abuse of women and children in Nigeria. Nnamani made the call at the 2017 Conference of the Africa Region of the Commonwealth Parliament Association in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is “State and Local Government Relations on Public Finance and Governance’’.
Nnamani said that although there might be a law in the past prohibiting child and women abuse but that the law was not strong enough to check the abuse of women and children.
“I am suggesting that both the national assembly and state assemblies should come out with laws prohibiting child abuse or women abuse.
“Yes, we must have done something in the past in this direction but maybe it is not strong enough.
“We must take this law into cognizance because if we don’t have respect for our kids it means we are not prepared for those that can take over from us.’’
Nnamani called on the Federal Government to persuade states to pass the bill prohibiting child and women abuse. He argued that State Governments should see reasons to comply, to ensure that Nigerian children were given strong foundations to compete in modern societies.
Also, Mrs Love Onyechere, Chief Executive Officer, Training Forum Ltd., said that existence of strong regulations on child abuse would make miscreants to desist from abusing children. Onyechere noted that child and women abuse were prevalence in rural communities, adding that lawmakers should stand up to address the problem.
According to her, women and children are the most vulnerable when it comes to the issue of abuse in society and yet nobody is talking about it.
She called on State Governments to also take necessary measures to end violence against children and women in their states.
(Source: NAN)