Beni Lar

Last updated

Beni Lar
House of Representatives Member for Langtang North, Langtang South Federal Constituency of Plateau State
Personal details
BornAugust 12, 1967
Nationality Nigerian
Political party People's Democratic Party (PDP)
Parent(s) Solomon Lar and Prof. Mary Lar
OccupationPolitician

Beni Lar born (August 12, 1967) is a politician of the People's Democratic Party from Plateau State, Nigeria. She's a member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives from Langtang North, Langtang South federal Constituency of Plateau State. [1] She was first elected to the house in 2007 and in 2019 she was re-elected to a fourth term in the house. [2]

Contents

Biography and career

She is the eldest daughter of Solomon Lar, a former Governor of Plateau State and Prof. Mary Lar. She says,

“My father taught me that there is no difference between a male and a female (child). He taught me to be hard-working; so, I trained as a lawyer just like him." [3]

She has "Urged Nigerians not to forget her father's legacy of unity, peace and love, adding, "This is what we need to promote this nation." [4]

In 2007, she was elected to the House of Representatives. [5] In 2008, she served as the House of Representatives Chair on Women's affairs. [6] As of July 2014, she represents the Langtang North and South constituency. She serves as Chairperson of the House of Representatives' Committee on Human Rights. [7] [8]

She has supported emergency funding for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), [9] increased penalties for child abuse [10] and the creation of a National Child Protection and Enforcement Agency. [11] In 2010, she participated in The GlobalPOWER® Women Network in Africa: Women Parliamentarians and Ministers United Against HIV/AIDS. [12] She was one of only 11 women elected in 2007 who were re-elected in 2011 when the lower house was nearly 95% male. Other women elected included Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Abike Dabiri, Nkiru Onyeagocha, Uche Ekwunife, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas, Juliet Akano, Khadija Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, Elizabeth Ogbaga and Peace Uzoamaka Nnaji. [13]

After 2013 attacks by herdsmen in Langtang South left seventy people dead, she urged the Nigerian Federal government to improve the conditions of local roads, so as to make it possible for security forces to arrive in a timely manner. [14] She has also called for the creation of grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen, saying:

“All who eat meat should be considerate enough to let go of their land for the source of the meat. Nigeria is blessed with enough land for everybody, and Nigerians should be gracious enough to recognize that the meat that the herdsman provides is for the community."

In May 2014, she led a group of protesters from Nigerians United Against Terrorism, wearing T-shirts "with the inscription "#ReleaseOurGirls.", showing solidarity with the Nigerian military in its efforts rescue the victims of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping. [15] One news source reports that some rally attendees received government funding. [16] [17]

Lar has been used as an example for strong women in government, although some argue that it was because of her privilege as her father's heir that granted her this power. [18] She has advocated for women participation in government and is part of a new trend of more women in government than ever before following Nigeria's independence in 1914. [19]

She has advocated for women's rights such as age of women to marry, abortion rights, and had a hand in the bills: The abolition of all forms of discrimination against women in Nigeria and other matters bill, and the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill. [20]

In 2017 Hon. Beni Lar spoke as the House Chair for the Science and Technology Committee and urged for the advancement of sustainable, reliable power for Nigeria. [21] She also has advocated for the option for students to choose what kind of religion they would like to learn about in school, rather than having a predetermined requirement. She presented this to the House and it was passed in part because of her point that because Nigeria is a secular state, religion and national values should be separated. [22]

In 2019, Lar ran for the House re-election and won. [23]

Quote

“We must say things that will cause the country to grow.” [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plateau State</span> State of Nigeria

Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It’s located near the centre of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimeji Bankole</span> Nigerian politician (born 1969)

Sabur Oladimeji "Dimeji" Bankole is a Nigerian politician who served as the 11th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Elected at the age of 37, he is the youngest Speaker in the history of Nigeria. He was the Action Democratic Party candidate in the 2019 Ogun State gubernatorial election.

Langtang North is a Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Langtang. at 9°08′00″N9°47′00″E.

Langtang South is a Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Mabudi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Lar</span> Nigerian politician (1933–2013)

Chief (Dr.) Solomon Daushep Lar was a Nigerian politician who has held various offices at the National level for over 50 years. He was a member of the first national parliament when Nigeria gained independence in 1960. He was elected governor of Plateau State on the Nigerian People's Party (NPP) platform during the Nigerian Second Republic, holding office from October 1979 until the Military coup of 31 December 1983 that brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power. Later, he was founding chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution.Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.

Binta Masi Garba is a Nigerian politician, businesswoman and administrator, serving as the Senator of Adamawa North Senatorial District of Adamawa State since 2015. She served as Chairperson, Adamawa State chapter of All Progressives Congress and she is the first female State Chairperson of a registered major political party in Nigeria.

Amina Titilayo Atiku-Abubakar is a Nigerian advocate of women and child rights and the wife of former vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar. She is the founder of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) and the initiator of the private bill that led to the establishment of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria are a series of disputes over arable land resources across Nigeria between the mostly-Muslim Fulani herders and the mostly-Christian non-Fulani farmers. The conflicts have been especially prominent in the Middle Belt since the return of democracy in 1999. More recently, they have deteriorated into attacks on farmers by Fulani herdsmen.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is a law enforcement agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, founded on the 14th of July, 2003 by the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2003 in order to combat human trafficking and other similar human rights violations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azubuko Udah</span> Nigerian police inspector general (b. 1954)

Azubuko Joel Udah is a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police. He is notable for conceptualising the amnesty program which brought about the disarmament of Niger-Delta militants during the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Dalung</span> Nigerian Politician, Lawyer and Academic

Solomon Selcap Dalung is a Nigerian Politician, Lawyer and Academic. He was made the Minister of Youth and Sports by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015 and his tenure ended in May 2019. He has served in the Nigerian Prisons Service, the University of Jos as a lecturer and as Chairman of Langtang South Local Government in Plateau State.

Juliet Nene Akano is a Nigerian politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007 and in 2011.

Eucharia Azodo Okwunna is a Nigerian politician. She was a member of the People's Democratic Party and the House of Representatives. In 2015, she was one of 21 female Nigerian senators.

Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, is a Nigerian politician and businesswoman. She was the director-general of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP from 1 December 2020 till 27 May 2021, when the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari announced a swap and she was redeployed as the Honourable Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.

The 2023 Plateau State gubernatorial election will take place on 18 March 2023, to elect the Governor of Plateau State, concurrent with elections to the Plateau State House of Assembly as well as twenty-seven other gubernatorial elections and elections to all other state houses of assembly. The election—which was postponed from its original 11 March date—will be held three weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. Incumbent APC Governor Simon Lalong is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term.

The 2019 Nigerian House of Representatives elections in Plateau State was held on February 23, 2019, to elect members of the House of Representatives to represent Plateau State, Nigeria.

The 2023 Nigerian House of Representatives elections were held on 25 February 2023 where voters elected members of the House of Representatives using first-past-the-post voting in all 360 federal constituencies. The last regular House elections for all districts were in 2019.

The 2019 Plateau State House of Assembly election was held on March 9, 2019, to elect members of the Plateau State House of Assembly in Nigeria. All the 24 seats were up for election in the Plateau State House of Assembly.

References

  1. ↑ "Lawmaker wants more funds for science and technology". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Beni Lar Returns to Reps in a Landslide". The Lagosian Magazine Online. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  3. ↑ "The pillar of my life is gone, says Beni Lar". Vanguard News. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Eight Months Later, Mrs Jonathan Promises To Stand By Lar's Widow". Information Nigeria. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Nigerian Women who will shape Seventh National Assembly". Nigeria Daily News. 6 July 2011. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Godwin, Ihemeje (August 2013). "The need for participation of women in local governance: A Nigerian Discourse" (PDF). International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies. 5 (4): 59–66.
  7. ↑ Hamza Idris; Yahaya Ibrahim (15 July 2014). "Nigeria: 38 Killed As Boko Haram Attacks Borno Village". Daily Trust – AllAfrica. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Murdock, Heather (28 April 2014). "Abuja Blast Impacts Lives, Livelihoods". Voice of America. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "House committee seeks emergency funds for NAPTIP". P.M. NEWS Nigeria. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "House C'ttee on Health calls for amendment of law on child abuse". Radio Nigeria: News. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Establish Child Protection, Enforcement agency- Lar – Vanguard News". Vanguard News. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "The GlobalPOWER® Women Network in Africa: Women Parliamentarians and Ministers United Against HIV/AIDS". Center for Women Policy Studies. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "Women who will shape Seventh National Assembly". Vanguard News. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  14. ↑ Uzondu, James. "Another Crimson River on the Plateau". Nigeria News World Magazine. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Mutim, Ronald; Isiaka Wakili (27 May 2014). "Nigeria: We Know Girls' Location, Says Defence Chief". Daily Trust - allAfrica.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "Photonews: Fake #BringBackOurGirls Protesters Surface In Abuja". Sahara Reporters. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "Corruption stalls Nigeria's war against B'Haram – US". 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "ODL, An Imperative to Women's Educational Status and National Development: A Study of Bende Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "Institutionalization of Fund and Women Participation in Politics in Yenagoa". KORI. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  20. ↑ Para-Mallam, Oluwafunmilayo J. [birmingham.ac.uk "The Role of Religion in Women's Movements: The Campaign for the Domestication of the CEDAW in Nigeria"].{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  21. ↑ Oak TV, 'Nigeria power sector defies improvement' ― Hon. Beni Lar , retrieved 6 December 2018
  22. ↑ Polycarp, Nwafor (12 July 2017). "School curriculum: Why Reps returned CRK as independent subject". Vanguard News. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  23. ↑ "Beni Lar Wins Langtang North Reps' Seat In Plateau | Independent Newspapers Nigeria". www.independent.ng. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  24. ↑ "Democracy Day: No reason to celebrate – Gbajabiamila … We have a lot to celebrate – Beni Lar". The Nigerian Times. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.