The Nigerian Youths will be the biggest beneficiaries of a Muhammadu Buhari Presidency if the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerges victorious in the coming national elections. This was the conclusion gathered this weekend when the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, interacted with young professionals at Nelos Place Event Centre in Ikeja, Lagos, at a programme tagged “Conversations For Change.”
Professor Osinbajo said every programme of the party was geared towards creating jobs for millions of young people that continue to fill the unemployment market yearly. In the over two hours he spent responding to questions from the attendees, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria reassured his listeners that an APC government would fix the nation if elected into office.
Prof. Osinbajo stated that corruption remained the key factor stunting the nation’s development and blamed the mismanagement of Nigeria’s resources on the rulling Peoples Democratic Party.
“When we are talking about fixing the economy, we must first tackle corruption, which is ingrained in the system,” he said. “If our natural resources and earnings from oil are brazenly stolen by criminals, we lose revenue in the process. It means that we cannot get money to fix necessary infrastructure, including power that is most needed as catalyst to revive our economy.
“The APC government would ensure there is consequence for stealing public funds and lack of accountability. We would start by ensuring accountability in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and make sure that every revenue-generating government agency publishes how much the nation earns every month.
“We will comply with best practice in our style of administration by setting up a system that holds everybody to accountable; nobody would be above the law. When people realise that the number one man would not compromise on the issue of accountability, they will not get involved in corruption. This way, our economy would pick again and investors, whether foreign or local, would have confidence in the system.”
The former Lagos State Attorney-General said the steady crash of the Naira was a sign of ineffective management of the economy. He even challenged the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to publish how many jobs were created since the decline in the value of the Naira.
The free fall of Naira, Prof. Osinbajo explained, is a direct result of depletion of the nation’s foreign reserve. He told the young professionals to find out why, despite the fall in oil prices in international market, Saudi Arabia’s economy and currency remained strong.
“Saudi Arabia is a major oil exporter and has a large foreign reserve of about $750 billion. With this large reserve, the Saudi currency maintains its value even as the oil prices continue to crash. Its economy is also protected. This is not the case in Nigeria, the major oil producer in Africa.”
On security, Osinbajo said the capacity of the security agencies to fight crime and terrorism had been compromised by partisanship. He described the Nigerian soldiers as the finest in Africa, but added that the partisan use of the service chiefs by the PDP-led government eroded the professionalism in the nation’s security establishment.
Many of the hundreds of young people at the event confessed they were convinced of the ability of the APC Presidential Candidates to deliver on their promises. They pledged to collect their Permanent Voters Card and vote for the APC.
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