By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: The Commandant-General, National Unity and Peace Corps (NUPEC), Dr Chinedu Nneji, has again appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill into law before May 29th, 2023.
Nneji who made the call in a press Conference on Thursday in Abuja, urged the President to give his assent to the Bill as a parting gift to Nigerians who have been eagerly waiting.
He also implored the President to equally absorb Nigerian youths who participated in the exercise, adding that the Bill when signed into law, will create employment for the youths and also ensure total peace in Nigeria through mediation, conflict resolution and community engagement.
Speaking further at the briefing which he said, was to keep the public up to speed on the activities of the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, the CG noted that law making is a process and NUPEC has participated in the entire process.
He recalled that, “the Peace Corps Bill made an early incursion in the 6th Assembly where Senator Nkechi Nwogu sponsored our Bill. In the Seventh Assembly, Senator Ben Ayade sponsored without success. In the 8th Assembly, it was sponsored by Senator Binta Masi Garba. It was in the 9th Assembly that the name Nigeria Peace Corps was born in the National Assembly.
“The Bill was resuscitated in the 9th Assembly where thorough work was done by the Kashim Shettima led Senate Committee and Committee of the whole House of Representatives where it was handled. The Bill eventually passed through harmonization when it was discovered that National Unity and Peace Corps with Peace Corps of Nigeria participated in the process. That was successfully done and today, the Bill is before the President for assent”, he said.
Furthermore, he announced that after Presidential assent, the Bill will become an act of parliament and also the property of the Federal Government bearing in mind that members of National Unity and Peace Corps co-founded the project in the National Assembly, this 2023.
“Having gone this far, we therefore call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to sign this Bill which will be his parting gift to Nigerians. We also implore him to equally absorb all Nigerian youths who participated in this exercise” he remarked.
The CG while thanking the National Assembly for fusing the National Unity and Peace Corps and Peace Corps of Nigeria into one body called Nigeria Peace Corps, also thanked all and sundry who supported this project throughout the journey.
The Nigerian Peace Corps Bill seeks to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps as a body charged with the responsibilities to develop, empower and provide gainful employment for youths, facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services, neighborhood watch and nation building.
