The national youth leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Sunday Udeh-Okoye, has urged Nigerian youths to reject President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2019 polls, in retaliation for his uncharitable comment on the suffering young people.
Udeh-Okoye said this in a statement he released in Abuja on Friday, in which he also expressed his perception of the comment by the president.
He said: “We are saddened by what has become a habitual and flagrant de-marketing of Nigeria and her citizens by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially anytime he steps outside the shores of the country. A President sincere about attracting foreign investors would not go about running his citizens down, telling the entire world that his citizens are corrupt and now, that the youth, which constitute about 60 percent of the country’s population are uneducated, lazy, and unwilling to work.
“It is needless joining issues with Mr. President and his incompetent team, whom besides having nothing to offer us, want to turn potential helpers and the entire world against us. The best answer to this assault on the sensibilities of the Nigerian youth is to obtain Permanent Voters Card and be ready to repay the President in his own coin in 2019 by showing him and the fumbling APC the red card across the country.”
The PDP chieftain also accused the President of twisting the truth before the international community.
“President Buhari should have instead told the world that this All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has incurred a debt of over N11 trillion in just three years without any completed project, especially socio-economic infrastructural projects that will drive youth entrepreneurship, to show for it in his third anniversary as President.
“He should have told the international community that his poor management of the economy has wantonly devalued the Naira from N160 to a United States Dollar he inherited in 2015 to between N350 to N400 and has triggered investment flights to neighboring countries like Ghana and demise uncountable businesses.”
He added that instead of saying that Nigerian youths are lazy, the president should have spoken about how hardworking Nigerians are: “Indeed, he should have confessed to the world that over 16 million hard working Nigerians, most of them the youth, lost their jobs, 18 million became acutely underemployed, and inflation hit an all-time high due to his incompetence and lack of vision. Therefore, to turn around to stand the truth on its head is unacceptable to the Nigerian youth.”
Similarly, Northern youths under the umbrella of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum on Friday went hard on President Muhammadu Buhari over his recent remarks in London that a lot of young persons in Nigeria prefer to sit without working, stressing that the criticism is an insult on all Nigerian youths.
The Arewa youths, who spoke through their national president, Yerima Shettima, said they have heard Buhari’s remarks at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London and are biding their time till 2019 to let the President know whether they are actually jobless and lazy.
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have said anything because I am not surprised to see that kind of statement because the government does not believe in the Nigerian youths from inception.
“If you look at the arrangement, the appointment, and how the government relates with the youths of this country, you will see that they do not have respect for the Nigerian youths despite the contributions of the youths. Don’t forget that the youths put their lives on the line to fight against the previous government but when it comes to sharing the goodies of government, the youths are nowhere to be found.
“We are completely disappointed in Buhari and we will never make this mistake again,” Yerima said.