Sponsor bills to tackle social-economic challenges, Spaces-4-Change tells senate

By Emmanuel Udom

Spaces-4-Change has called on Nigerian senators to sponsor bills that could tackle socio-economic and other challenges presently facing our country.

www.csomedia.org notes that the call is coming weeks after over 1000 NGOs, CSOs, journalists, bloggers and informed persons, gathered in Abuja in a peaceful protest to prevail on the senate to “kill” the social media bill.

Sponsored by Mohammed Sani Musa, a senator representing Niger East constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, the bill aimed at taming falsehoods and manipulations on the social media platform.

It is also coming at a time when 80% OF he estimated 203millon people in Nigeria are living below the poverty line of $1 per day. Even as there are 13million out-of-school children roaming various streets across the country.

Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, executive director, S-4-C, while speaking March 6  in Lagos on with over 1000 participants drawn from the loose network of civil society organizations, student unions, social movements, activists, and non-governmental organizations,  said our senators should introduce and sponsor bill on raping, ritualist’s activities, murder, terrorism, kidnapping, out-of-school dropout of students, etc.,

Her words: These and lots more are the kind of bills our distinguished senators should sponsor instead of wasting time, energy and resources on a bill that seeks to  stifle constitutional freedoms of people and crush civic liberties.

She spoke as one of the members of Action Group On Free Civil Space, made up of a loose network of over 500 NGOs, CSOs, social media groups, and students unions in Nigeria.