Lawan, with some of his colleagues at the upper chamber of the
National Assembly in Abuja on December 17, 2020.
A bill for an act to provide for the effective
surveillance, review, and prevention of maternal and perinatal
deaths and related matters for the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
2020 (SB. 581) has scaled the second reading in the
Senate.
The bill and six others were read for the second time on
Thursday during plenary at the upper chamber of the National
Assembly in Abuja.
Sponsored by the Senate Committee Chairman on Health, Senator
Yahaya Oloriegbe, the bill proposes to introduce a surveillance
system to track maternal mortalities in the country and identify
the direct and indirect factors responsible for the deaths.
Senator Oloriegbe believes the data on maternal and perinatal
deaths would be useful in making recommendations on how to address
the problem.
Senator Sadiq Umar, who seconded that the bill should be read
for the second time, explained the rationale behind his
decision.
He said, “I support this bill because the maternal deaths in
this country are unacceptable; these deaths affect the poor
primarily and we all have the poor in our constituencies.
“To achieve our goal by 2030, we need to have data that is
properly interpreted and informs decision making. I urge us all for
this bill to be read the second time.”
Shortly after it was read the second time, the lawmakers
referred the bill to the Committee on Health to report back within
four weeks.
Another piece of legislation that scaled the second reading was
the bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the
National Tea and Coffee Development Council by Senator Yusuf
Yusuf.
The bill aims to develop and promote growing, production, and
marketing of tea and coffee in the country.
Senator Smart Adeyemi, who seconded that the bill should be read
for the second time, stated that it should be given all the support
that it needed to be passed into law.
According to him, the bill deserves the support of the lawmaker
as it will provide job opportunities and enable the country to
compete in the global economy of tea and coffee.
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Like the first, the bill was read for the second time and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to
report back within four weeks.
In his remarks, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, described the
bill as a very important one, noting that Nigeria has massive land
for the production of tea and coffee.
“If we utilise such an environment, we can help in diversifying
our economy. I believe that we have a way of ensuring that this
Bill and subsequent ones in the area of agriculture will improve
and will help sustain our economy,” he said.
The remaining pieces of legislation that passed through the
second reading include a bill for an act to establish the Nigerian
Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) to build capacity,
conduct integrated applied research and development in roads,
buildings, and engineering materials sectors and for related
matters, 2020 (SB. 333) by Senator Uche Ekwunife, as well as a bill
for an act to repeal the National Human Rights Commission Act CAP
N46 LFN 2004 and enact the National Human Rights Commission Act,
2020 to strengthen the Commission to conduct investigations and
sustain contributions to the Human Rights Fund for Human Rights
Activities in Nigeria and for related matters, 2020 (SB. 586) by
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
Others are bill for an act to provide for the establishment of
the Nigerian Arabic Language Village as an Inter-University Centre
for Arabic Studies and for other related matters, 2020 (SB. 331) by
Senator Kashim Shettima, a bill for an act to establish the Federal
Orthopaedic Hospital Kuta and for related matters, 2020 (SB. 279)
by Senator Sani Musa, and a bill for an act to alter the provisions
of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to
provide for the Federal Character and for related matters, 2020
(SB. 514) by Senator Betty Apiafi.