Following the outrage of comments by Nigerian youth on social media describing them as “Lazy” by President Muhammadu Buhari, youth leader under the auspices of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), has thrown its weight behind the President.
It would be recalled that President Buhari, while responding to questions at a business forum in London, said most Nigerian youths are lazy and are waiting for freebies. A presidential aspirant for the NYCN, Comrade Almustapha Abdullahi during a press briefi ng in yesterday in Abuja said he believes the President intended to express concern over the high number of out of school and unemployed youth.
According to him, Buhari has always applauded youths who excel at different areas of endeavour. He said the president did not refer to the generality of Nigerian youths as lazy and unwilling to get education. Abdullahi said Buhari values the youth and understands that they are the future of the country but is worried about the idle youth population that is a huge burden on his administration.
The NYCN presidential hopeful cited some efforts of the Buhari administration to engage the rising unemployed youth population, such provision of single digit credit loans facility, 10 billion youth Empowerment Support and Npower scheme that pays N30,000 monthly.
Abdullahi said: “By our understanding after careful study of the statement vis-a-vis the personality of our president, we make bold to state that President Mohammadu Buhari did not refer to all Nigerian youths as lazy and unwilling to go to school in that statement he made on Wednesday in London.
“In a bid to fulfil his promie of providing 360,000 jobs for youths nationwide president has instructed CBN governor to make available cridit facilities at a single digit intrest rate through the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS) and N-Power program which pays N30,000 a month. We call on government to increase the allowance and engage more youths in the scheme. “The zeal with which Nigerian youths pursue education is evident in the numbers in that write national examinations, however the abysmally low drive in some parts of northern Nigeria is worrisome and we call on the necessary authorities to rise up to the occasion and reverse this ugly phenomenon.
“I implore all youths to think outside elemental sphere when judging a man that has done reasonably well when compared to what could have done in the midst of the obscurities,” he added.
