Former Lagos State Governor and current APC National Chieftain, Asiwaju Tinubu, has charged the Buhari-led administration to recruit 50 million jobless youths into the country’s security forces.
The veteran politician lamented that Nigeria’s alarming unemployment situation was pushing jobless youth into banditry.
He made this call at the annual Tinubu Colloquium, 12th in its series, to mark his 69th birthday. The colloquium which held in Kano, was themed: ‘‘Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative of National Cohesion for Growth and Prosperity.’’
Asiwaju said: “Nigeria is under-policed. We are competing with armed robbers and bandits to recruit from the youths who are unemployed. Nigeria’s unemployment rate recently hit a new record high at 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“With the high unemployment rate, some have feared that many youths who are out of jobs might turn to social vices and ills including banditry in northern parts of the country. It is time for the Buhari administration to address the situation so as to improve the standard of living of the citizens. Something must be urgently done to salvage the country.
“Let’s do a lot of things at home to create jobs. We find very creative minds on social media. Let us salute our youths.
“Yes, they (youths) are angry but we will pacify them. We need to pacify our youths otherwise the consequences could be dangerous. What we did in Lagos could be replicated across the country.”
Tinubu, however, cautioned against constant youth agitation, which he claimed might be a vital ground for dangerous revolution.
He disclosed that the shift of his annual colloquium to Kano was deliberately considered to strengthen Nigeria’s unity and promote peaceful co-existence across the country regardless of divergent views.
The event was virtually attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, who chaired the occasion and restated the essence of a one Nigeria. It was also virtually attended by dignitaries such as the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; amongst others, whose itineraries were disrupted by poor weather from the Abuja airport to the Kano airport.
The colloquium was originally conceived by Prof. Osinbajo as a platform to celebrate the former Lagos State governor popularly called Jagaban and has held every year since 2009, except last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
