The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to prohibit the production, importation, and usage of educational materials promoting Lesbianism, Bisexuality, and Transgender (LGBT).

This resolution followed a motion by Sulaiman Gumi ( PDP-Zamfara) during plenary in Abuja on Thursday.

Mr Gumi stressed the importance of banning inappropriate educational materials nationwide in nursery and pre-primary schools. He said the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has a crucial role in ensuring quality assurance in national-level book development and local authorship.

He also pointed out the influx of foreign educational materials introducing values contrary to the nation’s cherished norms and ethics.

Mr Gumi specifically called attention to the widely used book, ‘Queen Primer,’ which subtly introduces terms like ‘gay’ and ‘eros,’ propagating sexual perversion and immoral behaviours to innocent children. He deemed this exposure unlawful, unethical, highly immoral, and directly contradictory to the principles of child upbringing.

In response to Mr Gumi’s motion, Fayinka Oluwatoyin (APC-Lagos) proposed an amendment, suggesting that using such materials after their ban should be deemed a criminal offence.

The parliament unanimously adopted this amendment and referred it to the House Committee on Basic Education.

The legislators urged the federal ministry of education, the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council, and the Education Research Council (NERC) to thoroughly review and censor the content of educational materials used in nursery and primary schools.

The lawmakers said the directive is to ensure that these materials are appropriate and devoid of any connotations of immoral behaviour. The Committee on Basic Education has been mandated to oversee and ensure compliance with this directive.

(NAN)