In a statement on Thursday, April 19, the APC chieftain said the president's comment cannot be justified because the government has not provided the youth the opportunity to serve, hence there was no need to demarket them at an international event like the Commonwealth Business Forum.
He said as a young man he will be contesting the national chairmanship seat of his the APC, in the forthcoming national convention, to prove that Nigerian youths are ready if given opportunity.
President Buhari, in an address at the forum in Westminster on Wednesday, April 18, was quoted as saying, “More than 60 percent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free.”
Comrade Frank called on the President to remember that more than 20 young Nigerians lost their lives in 2014 in search of employment in Nigerian Immigration Service.
The APC chieftain who said that the country has the best brains in the world, added that Nigerian leaders have refused to create an enabling environment for the young population to excel.
“If Nigerian youths are lazy you won't find them allover the world seeking for greener pastures. Again, we have so many Nigerian young entrepreneurs who are doing well all over without support from the government.
“So I disagree with Mr. President on this particular comment. Nigerian youths are hard working; we have best brains in entertainment industry, sports, medicine, to mention but view, and I think they deserve an apology,” he said.
Declaring his intention to contest the office of the national chairman of the APC in the forthcoming national convention, Frank urged the president to support him as a young man so as to prove to the world that that Nigerian youths are not lazy.
“l'll like to inform Mr. President that if I'm given opportunity to serve within the rank of APC as national chairman, I have capacity to do better that the current national chairman.
“This is one of the reasons I have offered myself to serve my country in this capacity for now. I will, hereby solicit for your support by giving the youth opportunity to serve,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the special adviser on media and publicity to the president, Femi Adesina, has stated that that his boss didn't deride Nigerian youth by his statement in London.
In a statement sent to journalists, Adesina accused some people of twisting the president's words.
Part of the statement read: “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, canpass 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.
"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.”
Source: Naija.ng
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