By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The need to translate the laws of Lagos State into local languages, including Yoruba, the dominant in the city, for the benefit of every resident has been stressed by the Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa.
According to the lawmaker, the reproduction of these laws in native languages would make it easier for everyone to understand how he or she benefits from them.
Mr Obasa, who spoke on Thursday when officials of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) paid him a courtesy visit, assured of the readiness of the parliament to work with the relevant stakeholders to achieve this.
“We make laws in English language, but look at the percentage of the educated people compared to the people who are not lettered.
“I am suggesting to you also that during your (NHRC) campaign, you must use the local language of the locality for your campaign,” Mr Obasa said.
He urged the agency to also partner with other non-governmental organisations with interest in marital and domestic issues for the goal of peaceful co-existence among couples.
This, he said, is because divorce and separation will never be solutions to domestic challenges faced by couples.
“Finding lasting solution is more important than encouraging divorce and separation because divorce or separation does not benefit anybody particularly the children.
“I am not in support of domestic violence or do I encourage it. My concern is that the marriage institution must be protected because it is the society or the state that bears the burden of the children who are products of divorce and separation,” he submitted.
The lawmaker also said the assembly would look into the issues relating to alleged ill-treatment of Nigerian workers in some factories located in the state.
In his remarks, the Lagos State Coordinator of the NHRC, Mr Lucas Koyejo, commended the state parliament for passing laws that protect the rights of the citizens.
“Lagos State has been at the forefront of ground-breaking and pace-setting laws that other states and even the federal government have followed and this is what we want to continue.
“Domestic violence-prohibition law is one major law for which the NHRC is proud of the Lagos Assembly and is currently being emulated by other states,” he said.
Mr Koyejo urged the assembly to look into the inhuman treatment allegedly perpetrated by foreign factory owners on their Nigerian employees, noting that the NHRC would be happy if the parliament would always invite its officials to public hearings on bills.
Adedapo Adesanya