Ebun Francis |
President Muhammadu Buhari once again risked the ire of Nigerian youths on Tuesday by stating that youths in Nothern Nigeria are mostly “uneducated”.
President Buhari while speaking at a Commonwealth forum in London, recently said a lot of Nigerian youths have not been to school and they want everything free.
“More than 60 percent of the (Nigeria’s) 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,” he had said.
The comment generated backlash from many Nigerians who criticised him for “de-marketing the country.”
But in an interview with Voice of America on Tuesday, Buhari maintained that most youths in northern Nigeria are uneducated or school dropouts as he tried to clarify his London statement.
President Buhari, however, said the comment he made at the Commonwealth forum was taken out of context.
He said, “You know Nigeria’s population is now between 180 and 190 million and 60 per cent of this population is youth that is 30 years down ward.”
“You know in the north most youths are uneducated or school dropouts. If not because we had good harvests in the last two farming seasons, the situation would have deteriorated.
“These youths even if they travel out of the north for greener pasture they hardly make it economically because what they earn as income cannot afford them to meet their basic needs or return home.
“All these explanations I made, they refused to highlight them in their report and you know the media in Nigeria in most cases only do what they like.”