A former Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu has charged Nigerian youths to be wary of those who would use them to ferment trouble under the guise of politics or religion.
He gave this charge at the 11th National Youth Conference, which was held to mark the celebration of Africa Youth Day, by a non-governmental organisation, United Visionary Youth of Nigeria in Abuja.
Mantu, who was Deputy Senate President of the Senate between 2001 and 2007, explained that having been in politics for a long time, he has seen it all, stressing that political taskmasters are out to use younger Nigerians in order to maintain their relevance while victims of their inordinate ambition are abandoned afterwards.
“As a politician for quite sometime, I have been a witness to how youths were recruited for political violence to serve vested interests and at the end, they were abandoned,” Mantu said.
He noted that if the youths were allowed to grow in an atmosphere of peace, they would become masters too.
Mantu revealed that there are seven countries that are blessed with abundant human and materials resources that the world want to identify with which Nigeria was among them, explaining that Nigerians are highly respected across the globe because of their intelligence and courage.
He wondered at the attitude of some politicians, who deceive people to make it to political offices, while advising Nigerians to be mindful of those who under-performed so they can be voted out of office.
He maintained that youths must rise to the task of moving the nation forward by conducting themselves in a peaceful manner, without which government cannot execute programmes and policies meant for the socio-economic development of the country.
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