The reapportionment of Professor Abubakar Olarenwaju Sulaiman as Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS in March ,2023 did not came as a surprise to many Nigerians , particularly with the ongoing reforms, innovations and initiatives that had moved the agency beyond the shores of Nigeria, but global sphere towards it’s contributions to the world democracies in all areas that had not only sustained democratic tenets and practices, but to thrive in all ramifications.
For Professor Abubakar Olarenwaju Sulaiman, a renowned international scholar, public speaker of high repute, and former Minister of National Planning, it will be another opportunity to deepening and inculcating more democratic tenets and practices in Nigeria in the area of advocacy , fine tune more progressive programs that will continue to showcase not only the activities of the institute, but public perception of participatory leadership through democratic rules in Nigeria.
The political scientist whose initial appointment was described as a square peg in a round hole had demonstrated such feat through wholistic reorganisation of an organisation that was merely carrying out the academic aspect of it’s mandate, to a more robust and deeply involved in both current and recurent issues, through its contributions to national discourse, and in many instances organised seminars, symposium, workshops, talkshops, awareness and capacity building on the need to sustain the practices of Nigeria democracy to the inspiration of the global community.
Aside creating an enabling environment through a well thought out workers welfare and improved learning environment, Sulaiman made the organization part and parcel as well as organ that will constantly orient and reorient the Nigerian public and the political class on the need to not only protect it’s democratic system, but modest among the comity of nation.
The renowned scholar of high repute revived the desired democratic cultures that had thrived our democracy as designed by the initiators and inculcated modest approach not only at the national level , but preached against anti democratic practices at the local and state levels in Nigeria.
The global public speaker was at the forefront of inculcating and demonstrating the sane democratic norms , as he deployed every opportunities at the private and public fora to outline the need to Imbibe an acceptable democratic tenets with a view to ensuring a virile society.
He had improved the activities of the institute tremendously by high patronage of it’s mandate with numerous presentation of papers and encouraged the academics in the organization a conducive environment to continue to propagate the need for continuous disposition of democratic ideas in line with the rules of the game.
Without mincing words, Professor Abubakar Olarenwaju Sulaiman restored confidence, institutional framework, independence and functions that was devoid of any external influence or manipulations as well as meddlesomeness in it’s activities over the last three years.
The reforms and ongoing rejigging of it’s activities no doubt will not only improved the culture of democratic rules in Nigeria, but had detached the usual description of the practice as “Nascent” after over two decades of return to the practice since 1999.
For Professor Sulaiman, he had lived above board in the improvement of the legislative practices and democratic tenets in Nigeria.
No doubt his reapportionment in March , 2023 will be another opportunity to deploy more wealth of experience garnered from the academic, bureaucratic sphere and exposure to bare more on the continuous development of our growing democracy.
No doubt, his remarkable feat in the first time had earned him accolades, honor and award both locally and internationally, with the recent one in far away Austria when he was honored by the parliament among many others in one of it’s numerous exchange programs meant to deepening Nigeria’s democracy.
