President Muhammadu Buhari
Following yesterday’s release of ministerial nominees, the camp of
the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has declared that there is no hope for Nigerian
youths under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Special Assistant to Atiku on Youth and Support Groups,
Ambassador Aliyu Bin Abbas, in a statement to DAILY POST, said the
President has again exposed his hatred for youths with their absence in
the ministerial list sent to the Senate for confirmation.
Abbas said Buhari has abandoned Nigerian youths to the mercy of social and economic decay.
According to the statement, “The future has no patience for
leadership that is bereft of a road map for youth educational
advancement, real-time economic empowerment and large scale middle level
sectoral growth in both rural and urban areas.
“Worse still, the refusal by Gen Buhari to include and involve
the youths of Nigeria in the mainstream of his government is a clear
indication of wilful hatred for them. He has no plans other than use
them for electoral classifications and dump them afterwards.”
Abbas recalled that the statement credited to President Muhammadu
Buhari to the effect that Nigerian youths were lazy elicited angry
reactions from eminent citizens and groups across the country.
“During a business conference in London, the United Kingdom,
Buhari was quoted to have said that the youths “do nothing” and want
everything for “free” in the oil-rich country.
“According to Gen Buhari “A lot of them (Nigerian youths)
haven’t been to school and they are claiming, you know, that Nigeria has
been an oil-producing country, therefore, they should sit and do
nothing and get housing, health care, education, free,” said the Atiku’s aide.
Speaking further, he said that it is unfortunately that the youths
didn’t show Buhari that they were not lazy and uneducated by voting
against him in 2019.
“He doesn’t love them. It is painful that the President could
describe youths in Nigeria that were daily struggling to make a living
under a harsh economy as lazy people.
“These same “lazy youths” were hoodwinked into the fake chants
of “Sai Baba! Sai Baba!” and falsely led on to believe in the lies
embedded in their chosen “Next level” that today has turned into a
dishevelled and distressing agony in the lives of Nigerians.
“We have never had it so bad. People cannot travel freely
between towns and villages because of kidnappings and ritual killings.
Boko Haram, on the other hand, has intensified its ramifications and
killing young Nigerian soldiers at will. Yet the youths who make up over
60% of the population are not deemed fit to be elevated into performing
administrative roles in government.
“Gen Buhari chose a retinue of recycled old politicians. Many
of whom are standing trial in courts for embezzlement of public funds.
Where lies the so-called pursuit of integrity and fight against
corruption?” he queried.
Abbas claimed that it is on record that the future of Nigerian
youths was mortgaged by past leaders like President Buhari, who had
everything at their beck and call as youths.
“Can you imagine the youths of today having half of the opportunities available in the 1950s and 1960s!
“We wish to remind Nigerian youths that at age 19, Buhari
purportedly left secondary school to join the army. At age 21 (two years
in the army), he was commissioned a second lieutenant and appointed
Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Within his 24 years in the army, the president was governor of the
defunct North Eastern State, minister of petroleum, chairman of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and head of state. Where
can our youths get such opportunities today?
“We wish to remind Nigerian youths that on Gen Buhari’s watch
as minister of petroleum, N2.8 billion went missing from the accounts of
the NNPC in Midlands Bank in the United Kingdom.
“That N2.8 billion as at that time is like $2.8 billion (over
N1 trillion now) but he chose to insult the youths whose existence his
likes mortgaged.” Gen Buhari de-markets Nigeria and its people in
foreign lands. In an interview with the UK Telegraph in February 2016,
he said that some Nigerian youths in the United Kingdom were disposed to
criminality and should not be granted asylum there,” he pointed out.
Atiku’s SA said that currently, it is obvious that the youths have no future with Buhari.
“He has abandoned them and left them at the mercy of social and economic decay.
“But our only hope lies in the indefatigability of the Atiku
Abubakar Presidency that has assured the Nigerian youths of 40%
placements and integration in all sectors of governance.
“That is the true patriot who understands that the baton must
surely be handed over to our young people who are the hope and future of
Nigeria.
“That aspiration and God-sent leadership hangs in the hands of
the judiciary to save Nigeria and ensure the fostering of unity in
diversity, development based on real time economic Integrated
development.
“The choice of our country lies in the Atikulated policies
already canvassed and ready to be implemented with accuracy on Day 1 of
the Atiku Abubakar, GCON presidency,” he concluded.