#LazyNigerianYouths: Manipulators, twisters at work again –Presidency

The Presidency has responded to President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged comment that Nigerian youths are lazy.

According to the Presidency, it was the handy work of manipulators and twisters, who always lie in wait to make mischief that interpreted the comment to mean that President Buhari had taken all Nigerian youths to the cleaners.

Buhari was said to have made the statement during a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Business Forum (BEF) in Westminster, London, on Wednesday.

But reacting in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the Presidency said that there was 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.”

The statement read, “At the Commonwealth Business Forum in London on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari gave a keynote address on Making Business Easier Between Commonwealth Countries. The presentation was followed by a discussion, and question and answer session.

“Responding to a question, President Buhari had cause to talk about some Nigerian youths, and he said: ‘We have a very young population; our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million. More than 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. A lot of them have not been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country, therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free.’

“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 recognizes 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!

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“President Buhari has always applauded and celebrated Nigerian youths who excel in different areas of endeavour, from sports, to academia, and other realms. And he will continue to do so, because he values the youths, and knows that they are the fulcrum on which the future of the country rests.

“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 potentials. That is what President Buhari is committed to doing.

“The focal areas of the administration; securing the country, reviving the economy, and fighting corruption, are actually intended to give youths a future and a hope. This much was emphasized in an April 5, 2018 comment by President Buhari, while receiving Letter of Credence from the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria, when he said: ‘Our insistence on probity is to encourage people to be accountable, and accept honesty as a lifestyle so as to secure the future of our youths.’”

 

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