THE Niger State House of Assembly is set to enact a law that will provide six months maternity leave for nursing mothers in the state.
The Deputy Speaker, Afiniki Dauda, stated this on Sunday during a training session on etiquette, protocol, security, and empowerment for female political office holders in Minna, the state capital.
She said the bill was important to allow women to get the required rest after childbirth and to enhance the health of the nursing mother and her child.
The all-women event organised by the wife of the governor of Niger State, Fatima Bago, was aimed at enhancing women’s participation in governance and equipping them with the required business and life skills for them to fit into their new roles as political officeholders and wives of elected and appointed political officials.
The training was a follow-up to an earlier one organised by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, in Abuja.
Dauda, in her remarks, said the six-month maternity leave would enable working-class nursing mothers to fully regain their energy and bond sufficiently with their children during the period.
Also speaking, Mrs Bago asked the women to leave a modest lifestyle devoid of extravagant character.
Resource persons at the event dwelt on several issues around gender-based violence, etiquette, security, and general conduct of women that would protect their integrity and safety as well as those of their spouses.
