…Nigerian Youths blast President Buhari over “lazy” label
…Presidency reacts to outrage on President Buhari’s statement, says President referred to “many” and not all Nigerian Youths
NEWS DIGEST – With the current backlash on a statement credited to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, The News Digest takes a look at another statement by the Nigerian leader 2016 to commemorate the International Youth day.
The incumbent President had praised Nigerian Youths and described them as smart, energetic and a blessing to the Country. It remains to be seen what informed the inconsistency in President Buhari’s statement between 2016 and 2018.
Read his statement below
“We are mindful of the fact that Nigeria has one of the youngest populations in the world. Those young people are immensely energetic and talented, consistently blazing the trail in the arts, sports, business and technology. We are proud of what you have done and
what you are able to do.” Mr Buhari said this in August 2016.
This statement is in contrast to a recent statement he said about Nigerian Youths been lazy and loving freebies.
The Government of President Buhari had introduced several scheme for young persons, the most notable been N-power which catered for young unemployed persons.
It remains to be seen if such initiatives informed the decision of President Buhari to label youths as Lazy.
Between 2016 till date, several youth bodies had come out to express support for the incumbent President . Recently, National Youth Council of Nigeria said about 15000 Youths had been arranged to welcome back the President into the country during the long medical leave President Buhari embarked on, another body Nigerian Youth Organization had vowed to take President Buhari to Court if he refuses to contest in the upcoming Presidential Election. South West Youth Forum also recently lauded the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.
A notable body Arewa Youths forum had in 2017 blasted President Buhari for failing to live up to expectation but few days ago openly declared that they would widely support the re-election bid of President Buhari. Commentators say incoherent and inconsistent statements by various youth bodies may have informed the Position of President Buhari who chose the “wrong” place to express himself.
Meanwhile, Nigerian youths have however come out on social media to blast the statement credited to President Buhari describing it as misguided.
A social critic Adnan Mukhtar described the statement of President Buhari as wrong “I am not a Lazy Nigerian,i campaigned for you and that is one of the reasons why you emerged” an embittered Adnan noted.
Some of the reactions on social media are below:
— Gentle (@crowtherajayi) April 19, 2018
I don’t agree. Nigerian youths are among the most
hardworking in the world, it’s the government that
has failed to provide an enabling environment. Na wa
o, I have never seen a president who hates Nigerians
so much.
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— KFire (@kendragon101) April 19, 2018
This remark alone should make Buhari lose in 2019;
and any young Nigerian that’ll still vote for him after
this should consult a physician #2019Election
— BolaBillion (@Flaxtonboy) April 19, 2018
The old man spoke the truth: if the Nigerian youth
were ready to work, he’d have had no business being
a tenant at Aso Rock! It’s the home truth!!
— Gwa Emmanuel (@gwa_emmanuel) April 19, 2018
The president can’t just stop this blame game and
take responsibility for once. God is watching you and
we the youth are waiting for you come 2019…
Notable Nigerians including Atiku Abubakar, Reno Omokri and People’s Democratic Party have also come out to criticize the statement by Buhari.
The Nigerian Presidency has reacted to the recent outburst due to the statement, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on media said the President meant “Many Nigerian Youths are lazy” and not all Nigerian Youths.
The Presidency on Thursday explained that President Muhammadu Buhari did not refer to all Nigerian youths as lazy in a statement he made on Wednesday during the question and answer section of the Commonwealth Business Forum in London.
Rather, it said Buhari only made reference to “a lot of” Nigerian youths and not all of them.
Adesina attributed the outrage that trailed the President’s comment to those he described as “manipulators and twisters” of Buhari’s statements.
Adesina said , “Typical of their stock in trade, manipulators and twisters of statements of Mr. President, who lie in wait to make mischief, interpreted the comment to mean that
President Buhari had taken all Nigerian youths to the cleaners.
“But elementary English recognises a wide gulf between ‘a lot of’ and the word ‘all.’ How can ‘a lot of them,’ suddenly transmogrify to mean ‘all of them?’ Mischievous and
unconscionable!
“There is no way President Buhari, father of the Nigerian nation in every sense of the word, who equally has biological children of his own in the youths age bracket, pass a vote of no confidence on all youths.
“It can only exist in the imagination of those who play what the President has described as ‘irresponsible politics’ with everything.”
The presidential spokesman said Buhari had always applauded and celebrated Nigerian youths who excel in different areas of endeavor, from sports, to academia, and other realms.
He said the President would continue to promote Nigerian Youths: “Indeed, every country has its share of idle population, and it is the bounden duty of government at all levels, to
create an enabling environment for them to actualize their potential. That is what President Buhari is committed to doing. he noted.
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